What you may not know about me is that I photograph other genres. It’s been 15 years that I’ve been photographing the circle of life starting as a children’s and family photographer, niching in senior portraits for the past 11 years, photographing 20+ white shirt shoots and I’m now into the engagement years! This is the story of a NJ shore engagement photoshoot.

Prepping for the Shoot

Chris and Gess met in high school and spend a lot of time at the Jersey shore, so what better place than to have their engagement photos taken there?! First, we chose a date and then realized it was the longest day of the summer AND a Strawberry (full) Moon which added even more magic to their engagement pictures.

Next, we hopped on a call to get to know each other, discussed what was important to them and selected what to wear. Their single request was, they didn’t want posed, stiff shots. I told them they found the right photographer 😉

Capturing Emotions

Emotions are my jam. It’s what I love to photograph.

We started in a quiet dune area and with some fun prompts from me the laughter and affectionate glances started which then led to the unscripted and raw moments – pure magic. Actually engagement photos are no different than any other type of session I photograph. It’s all about getting lost in the moment which is what began happening.

They were twirling, dipping, laughing a lot and in general, having a really good time. As the sun started setting we gradually made our way to the water, which was freezing! Gess was a really good sport about it and based on the images it was well worth some numb feet.

Editorial Style with All the Feels

One of the things I love most about photography is the ability to tell stories through images. I approach engagement shoots with an editorial mindset, aiming to capture the in-between moments with real emotions.

I made sure to include a variety of shots—wide-angle highlighting them in this special setting, tight, cropped shots where you can feel the emotion, and direction in movement to show their connection to each other. Each photo is a piece of who Chris and Gess are as a couple.

Looking forward

As Chris and Gess’ engagement session drew to a close, I felt so grateful – it was like a pinch me moment. I get to capture love, happiness and hope all on the longest day of summer, at a beach with a stunning sunset, a full moon rising and a couple head over heels in love ready to start their life together. Lucky me!

I can’t wait for my next couples shoot coming up in a couple of weeks!

If you’re interested in couples or engagement photos GET in TOUCH.