Danielle is one of those clients who has made me literally laugh out loud at my computer screen from day one/email one. Just for funsies, here is an excerpt from her first email to me inquiring about wedding photography services:

“Our wedding is in Brick/Belmar, NJ… but I promise, there won’t be any fist-pumping. Well, the FI says we’ll try to keep it to a minimum.”

And then a response to a recent email where I told her about the unfortunate incident that resulted in my hair coming out bleach Barbie blonde:

“If it makes you feel any better, I went and got a trial spray tan on Thursday, so together we’ll make one whole Barbie :)”

Luckily her tan seemed to have faded before her engagement shoot this Sunday, saving me tons of extra hours with the desaturation tool in Lightroom, WHEW, and let me just tell you, she looked FANTASTIC! It was awesome getting to know Brian, too. Right off the bat I was nervous having to break the news to him that the jacket he had on was a little too busy for photos, and like the awesome sport that he was, he braved the cold with a smile on his face. The session was held at Brian’s Alma Matter, King’s College, a location that holds sentimental value to the couple.

The campus provided no shortage of beautiful locations to use for pictures, including a wishing tree and a small auditorium. Danielle was uncomfortable looking directly into the camera and claimed to not know how to smile in pictures; I told her she hired the perfect photographer, because most of my photos are candid in nature. With a little encouragement on how great she was doing just acting like I wasn’t there, she ended up being one of my most animated engagement-shoot subjects yet!

One minute we were taking pictures under a bridge and the next minute Danielle took a look out at the river and noticed something really incredible. Somehow, huge chunks of snow and ice had broken off somewhere and were floating down the river like glaciers! The photos got better and better the closer we got to the water.

On our way to our next location, we stopped for a couple of pictures utilizing the character of the buildings on campus.

We arrived at a local bar the couple had scouted out earlier in the day, just in time to crash a sweet-sixteen party. In spite of having been given express permission to use the location on two different occasions earlier in the day, some of the bar staff were pretty unhappy with our presence. Danielle and I made a huge butt-kissing effort and managed to keep the staff at bay while we hurriedly snagged just a few of the images we had been envisioning.

To Danielle and Brian, it was truly a pleasure getting to know you both better. I can’t believe your wedding is less than a month away! I can’t wait to see your beautiful faces again, and let your wonderful personalities shine through my lens on your special day. March can’t get here soon enough!