Essential Stuff

Well, since they just got married, I thought maybe I should post a few Jenessa and Collin’s engagement pictures! Yes, I’m a bit behind on posting engagement sessions (this one was from last October). Jenessa and Collin drove up from the Tri-Cities just for this session, which we had scheduled quite a while earlier.  When the day arrived, it was drizzly and glum. We did some text-brainstorming for alternate plans, but then, once they arrived, the rain stopped, and we were able to shoot the session in dry (though coldish) weather.

They had asked, like most couples do, if I had any clothing suggestions, and, as I usually do, I suggested solid complementary colors, and I LOVED the bright green and red that they chose. It was great with the fall colors we were aiming for in the park. It was also fun to watch them just play around and be together. They danced in the gazebo, held hands on the swings, went down the slide, and took a ride on the train on the playground. It gave me a hint of how much fun their wedding would be (which is was, totally).

No, spring hasn’t sprung in Spokane.  Still snow on the ground.  I’m just going trough all my old files from the summer and came across Amanda and Dayln’s engagement portrait session, and I thought I’d post a few here.  It was a great session, mostly because of Amanda and Dayln.  They wanted something outdoorsy, not too formal, casual, warm, comfortable.  Much like they are themselves.  So we chose Plante’s Ferry Park in Spokane Valley.

They were absolutely delightful.  There was no awkwardness in front of the camera, no nervousness, nothing uncomfortable about their expression of delight in each other.  They laughed, joked, hugged, kissed, carried each other around on their backs, and laughed some more.  I really didn’t have to give any instructions at all.  I just stayed back and shot away.

Eventually, around sunset, we headed out for some train tracks.  We don’t think we broke any laws getting there (we jumped no fences and it wasn’t a BNSF rail  road).  And we lucked into a spectacular sunset.  Delightful redheads, these two are.  And their engagement session was one of the highlights of last summer.  There are a few more photographs for the engagement session in this gallery.

Okay, so obviously I’m doing a little back-blogging here.  The shorts and sunshine is a dead give-away that I didn’t take these pictures this winter.  But I thought it was high-time to post from Sara and Ben’s engagement session.  Even though they now live in Spokane, they wanted to have their pictures taken at the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, since that was where they had met and started dating.

So on a toasty summer day, we drove down.  They were hoping to get some pictures near the stadium to show the degree of their WSU fandom.  They even had some festive WSU apparel.  But we did NOT expect to find the stadium doors open.  And what should one do, when given an opportunity like that?  I mean, there was no one there saying we couldn’t go inside and shoot.  Needless to say, we were all pretty excited about the session.  You can check out the photographs here.

This is Natalie and Jake.  We made arrangements to do engagement pictures via email, because they currently live in Hanoi.  But they came back for a short trip to visit family and friends and do some wedding arrangements, and we had the chance to do a session together.

In Vietnam, Natalie teaches second grade, and Jake teaches middle school science (so it makes perfect sense that, when coming across a small, shallow pond, he would want to get down on his hands and knees and look for small things).  He is from Colorado, and she is from Washington, though Jake went to school in Washington and Natalie went to graduate school in Colorado.  Of course, they wouldn’t meet until they were both teachers, in Norway.

I loved wandering around the park with them, enjoying the fresh air and the sunset and the sounds of the river.  I’m already looking forward to June 2011 when I’ll be able to watch them get married.  In the meantime, here are a few photographs from their engagement session.

Here are Deanna and Michael.  I had done an engagement photo session with them, so I had an idea of what to expect on their wedding day.  During the engagement session, it was 15 degrees with two feet of snow, so naturally they wanted pictures of themselves outside.  Lying in the snow.  With no coats.  Making snow angels.  And they laughed the whole time.

No snow at Coeur d’Alene Lake for their wedding:  just beautiful sun and gentle breezes and everything perfect.  But weather aside, their wedding day had the same spirit as their engagement session:  it was full of fun and love.

Watching Deanna and Michael together, it’s clear to me that these two just love being around each other.  They are always laughing together, looking at each other, joking, touching.  Their positive energy is a delight to be around.

When David proposed to Stacy, he did so on one of the bridges over Spokane Falls at Riverfront Park.  So when it came time to do the engagement session, that’s where they wanted to shoot.  One plans ahead:  wardrobe, location, sunset calendars.  But one can never predict the weather.  It didn’t really start to rain on us until we walked back to the cars, but it was windy and dark.  Still, it was fun, and I loved the way the background got lost in the darkness in this image (thanks 200 mm lens and a bit of off-camera lighting).  Stacy and David will appear again on this page in August, so stay tuned!