Being around Marta and Gwaki was a bizarre experience. But don’t take that the wrong way! These two are outstanding. Fabulous. Joyous. Not to mention hilarious. (And in a minute you’ll understand that I’m sort of complimenting myself here.)
What made photographing their engagement session at the Hudson River Parkway in New York City bizarre was that I felt like I was watching Glen and myself together. Well, a much tanner version of me and Glen, but the two of us nonetheless. From the way they interact, to their demonstrations of affection, to their senses of humor — all the way down to some of the EXACT jokes they tell each other — IT WAS US! I can’t tell you how many times during the day I found myself laughing with the two of them, feeling like I was right at home. It was sometimes hard to remember I was there to do a job! But do my job I did, and I think it turned out pretty dang well.
So, meet Marta and Gwaki, a ridiculously fun and happy couple who took me to New York City for the second time in my life, and made it a great day. Now, to convince them to hang out with me and Glen! Ha!
We started out on a very misty, very early morning under the George Washington Bridge, which makes for a surprisingly beautiful backdrop.
…right beside the quite aptly named “Little Red Lighthouse.” Oh, New Yorkers, you’re so literal.
This series makes me laugh. So many times we’d start off being serious, but it always pretty quickly devolved (in a good way!) into hilarity. That last photo is a perfect example of how fun these guys are.
I think this is my favorite image from the day. It was hard to decide, but the emotion in it sold me. Happiness. :)
Yet another example of “them.” :D
I smile so big every time I look at this one.
This is Marta. She is beautiful. The End.
I was just messing with you. That wasn’t really the end. You’ll never trust me again, will you?
This was our view all day. Morning Fog Manhattan. Which sort of sounds like the name of an alcoholic beverage.
Okay, but I love this one, too. Am I allowed two favorites? Wait, you don’t make the rules — why am I asking you? I say, “Yes.” Yes I am.
Despite my protests that we were going to die from the intake of pollutants, Marta insisted I try a mulberry off of the many mulberry trees that line the pathways of Hudson River Parkway. Obviously, I’m still alive, what with the blogging and all, and I’m happy to report that mulberries are quite tasty. In fact, just the other morning as I was driving Honey to work (his car was in the shop), I saw a group of people collecting mulberries from trees in my neighborhood. Who knew? At any rate, I took this photo (in case I needed to be rushed to the hospital from exhaust poisoning and needed to show the paramedics why I was unable to speak) and absolutely fell in love with it. I think I’m going to print it on canvas and hang it in my house.
In the photo on the right, they both started blowing away a piece of floating detritus (pollen or a feather or some such nonsense), and it was too cute to not to snap a shot.
At one point I asked them to give me a bit of drama, and Marta broke into a full scene from a Spanish soap opera, complete with overacted bodily flourishes and dialogue, of which I caught very little, but which included something about not being able to marry Gwaki because he was already married to another woman and a whole lot else I didn’t understand. I’m not doing it justice, but suffice it to say, it was a fun morning. We laughed a lot.
A lot a lot.
By the time we executed this shot, the volume of bikers in the park had greatly decreased, so we had to wait for awhile to get a good couple of passers by. Marta and Gwaki are very patient people. I like it. :)
How could you not enjoy taking pictures of people who are just like you? Especially when they’re so good looking! And jubilant! And photogenic! And and and!
And I’m almost caught up with blog posts! But not quite! So stay tuned! Exclamation points!
by Molly
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