T.J. & Jenna's Philadelphia Museum of Art Engagement Photos

 

• Posted by Natalie •

One of the most fun parts of being a photographer is having the opportunity to create portraits for friends.  I've known T.J. and Jenna since college, and I was so happy to hear when they got engaged.  Matt will be taking charge on their wedding day so that I get to be a guest, but I'm glad we got to meet up with them at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a perfect fall morning for some engagement photos.

We started in the Azalea Garden and then moved back to the Waterworks.  The Art Museum is one of our most common portrait locations, so Matt and I like challenging each other to create unique photos for each couple.  T.J. and Jenna are so easy-going that it was no challenge to get some beautiful portraits.  We can't wait for their October wedding—especially since I'll get to party while Matt does all the work that day!!

Smokin' hot | Luis & Cristina's Historic Bethlehem Engagement Portraits

• Posted by Natalie •

We teased to this engagement session forever ago, and I realized we never gave this awesome couple a full post.  Cristina is the younger sister of one of my best friends, and I was thrilled when she contacted us about being her wedding photographers. In addition to being such a photogenic couple, they had lots of ideas for their engagement portraits.  Luis is a bit more reserved than Cristina, but since the two have been dating since 8th grade, he knows by now that the best course of action is to play along.

They brought their bulldog pup Bruno with them for the portraits.  As any bulldog owner knows, this breed needs lots of special attention, especially in the summer, so Cristina's mother came along to make sure this canine divo stayed hydrated and cool for the session!  We met up near Monacacy Creek just off Main Street in downtown Bethlehem.  The historic buildings were the perfect backdrop for the vintage look that Cristina wanted for their photos.  Later in the session they changed into more casual clothes for some less formal shots.

Stay tuned for photos from their August wedding, which featured more of Cristina's great big ideas!

Martin & Tiffany's Lock Ridge Park Engagement Photos

 

• Posted by Natalie •

Martin and Tiffany introduced us to Lock Ridge Park and Furnace Museum in Alburtis, PA, which is one of our new favorite spots for portraits in the Lehigh Valley.  They were planning an August Wedding at Bear Creek Mountain Resort, but wanted to have their ceremony somewhere a little more private. This park with its mix of nature and crumbling stone walls that used to make up the Lock Ridge Iron Works was exactly what they were looking for.  We decided to stick to the nature path side of the park for their engagement portraits and save the stone walls for their wedding day portraits.  Martin's kids came along for the session so we could mix in some family portraits.

We met during one of the summer heat waves, so we had to work quickly before our subjects melted away.  Thankfully no one in this group was camera shy and they were great at making each other laugh.

Landmark Session | Eric & Mary Beth's Favorite Philly Locations Engagement Portraits

 

• Posted by Natalie •

We met up with Mary Beth & Eric last September for a monster engagement session. It was sort of like a photo bootcamp—the challenge was to fulfill an idea MaryBeth had for her wedding reception tables and create unique and fun portraits at 25 different Philadelphia landmarks. We all spent a lot of time brainstorming and planning our route, which took us from Temple University's campus to the stadiums in South Philly, then into Old City followed by Center City and ending at the Art Museum. They wanted to incorporate a mix of places that had a lot of meaning for them, like Temple University where Mary Beth went to school and IKEA, which is part of their proposal story, as well as easily recognizable landmarks, like City Hall and Boat House Row. We managed to pull it all off in about 4 hours, and we had so much fun that I think we could have kept going if the sun wasn't setting!

Matt and I like to give each other mini-challenges before every portrait session and wedding in order to keep improving and growing as photographers, so we love sessions like this where we get to collaborate with a bride and groom and bring their idea to fruition.  I can't wait until their June wedding when we get to see the finished result!

The Phillies', Flyers' and Eagles' stadiums were our biggest challenge since we wanted to make sure each stadium was easily recognizable and the general area is less than picturesque.  I'm pretty happy with the end result, though it would have been fun if we had gotten there a few hours earlier and gotten some photos with some of the crazy Phillies tailgaters!

The Rocky statue was definitely a must-have!

Love at first tackle | JoyAnn & Brian's Art Museum Area Engagement Portraits

• Posted by Natalie •

Ok, so technically there is no tackling in a flag football league, but we still loved that this sweet couple lets their competitive side out on the weekends in their flag football league.  JoyAnn and Brian brought their team jerseys out for a few of their photos at their fall engagement session at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and just hearing about their game schedule made me tired!  I always admire couples who have such fun hobbies that they enjoy together.

They showed off more of their Philly team spirit by donning their Phillies and Eagles jerseys for a couple photos after we took some more traditional portraits at Love Park and around the Philadephia Art Museum.  We like having the opportunity to take a mix of formal and playful portraits since many couples don't have a lot of good portraits of themselves. Including personal items like JoyAnn & Brians's football jerseys help engagement portraits tell a more complete story of a couple. I can't believe that their April wedding is just around the corner. We're looking forward to spending another day with this fun couple!