HELLO, AUGUST. I AM BLOGGING DURING YOU. I missed you. Did you miss me?
What better way to break my blog silence (Silog? Blilence?) than with an engagement session of my newest couple, Maggie + Artur, who are getting married in just about a month. They are Polish, they are adorable, they are adorably Polish. They were also extremely nervous to have their pictures taken, but my sense of humor (always underestimated, sadly) put them at ease pretty dang quickly, which you’ll see in just a moment. At any rate, when we were brainstorming about their engagement session, the only thing they knew they wanted was an urban backdrop, so off to New Haven we went! Because if New Haven has only two things going for it, those two things would be 1) the York Street Noodle House (Awful website; outstanding noodles.) and 2) gritty buildings. We even crawled into a condemned one! Adventure!
So! Check it out! And enjoy! Exclamation point!
How cute is Maggie’s dress? Right? I wanted to steal it, too.
This building used to be black and white (I know because I’ve used it before), but they recently painted it yellow. I love when people choose colors other than neutrals for buildings; it makes my life all the more fun. And my photos, too! Like, for instance, this one:
I love Maggie’s smile, too. :)
I always tell my couples to bring things to their sessions that represent “them” — including pets. This is partly to make their photos more personal, and partly because I LOVE PETS. (Yep. Selfish.) Maggie + Artur brought along their new puppy, who was such a momma’s boy; he haaaaated being tied up out of the frame while we worked. But his anticipation was also pretty flipping cute. Maggie + Artur in front of me. Echo to my right.
Tangent Alert: For awhile now, every time I process photos I feel like I’m missing something, like something isn’t quite right. Not that the product I’m producing is bad, mind you, but that somehow it isn’t me enough. I’ve always had this problem with a lot of visual aspects of life, in fact (my branding, the way I furnish / decorate my apartment, my wardrobe), because I am drawn to two very different and distinct styles — clean, slick and bright modern, and rustic, layered and warm antique. And so far, I’ve yet to find a way to comfortably overlap them. Frustrating, right? TELL ME ABOUT IT.
But today I finally feel like I GOT it with my photos. I finally feel like these are me. They’re bright and colorful without being neon-80s-hypercolor (and yes, I’ve been guilty of overdoing this), and they’re warm and soft while maintaining good contrast and not caving to some of the trends I see sweeping the industry right now. And most importantly, they don’t look like they’ve been fiddled with TOO much — they’re still about the photo, instead of being about the processing (a personal photography pet peeve). I’m not claiming perfection, and I’m sure somebody would be happy to disagree with me about this assessment, but dang it, I feel GOOD about my process now. And that is a serious breath of fresh air.
Would you like an example? I have a couple of favorites (If you haven’t noticed, I can never pick just one) — this is the first!
Don’t you want to climb this ladder?
Favorite #2. I HATE that it’s tilted (I was laying on the ground in a really weird way and my glasses had just fallen off my head and gotten scratched on the pavement), but I LOVE the architecture, the body language, the light, the colors. Give a little, get a little. :)
That cool building above is actually the corner of the New Haven Fire Department Headquarters. Artur wanted to take a photo on the truck and waltzed right on in to ask permission from one of the firemen, who graciously agreed and kept Echo company for us so he didn’t spend the whole time crying. Public service! Fun, right?
It’s such a great building. There is most definitely not enough of this type of architecture in New England.
Of course I couldn’t finish the day without a few “family” portraits. Love the one on the right.
Maggie + Artur first met while out with friends. They went out, had a nice time, exchanged phone numbers… and then Maggie didn’t call. For three months. For three whole months, she didn’t call and he waited. And then one day his phone rang. I think he’s pretty happy he exercised patience, don’t you? Sometimes things just happen when they’re supposed to.
Seriously. Want to steal that outfit. Also? Love this photo.
Aaaand, last but not least, favorite #3. Hello, hot?
Maggie, Artur, you two did an awesome job (just as I predicted you would!). I hope you love these, and I’ll see you in a month (A MONTH!!!). :)
Like the champion blogger that I am, I’ve let myself fall way behind on posting sessions, so.. expect more of those soon!
by Molly
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