Gwen had the pleasure of meeting Holly & Brock a few months ago, but I finally had the chance to meet this amazing couple when we met up at Friendship Fountain for some downtown Jacksonville engagement photos. Holly had just had a trial make-up/hair session with the fabulous Faythe Mesic and we wanted to grab some shots of her and Brock. As we looked out at the downtown cityscape, Brock revealed that he thinks it’s the most beautiful location in Jacksonville. I think we’d have to agree!
Holly and Brock are outwardly very quiet but when you watch them look at each other, you see the sparkles in their eyes and the connection between them. They needed very little encouragement from us to wrap themselves in each other’s arms and share some tender kisses. I think what I like best about Holly & Brock is their classic, elegant look as a couple. Holly brings that Northeast sophistication while Brock contributes that Southern charm. It’s an amazing combination and something you can only appreciate by spending some time with them.
We’re really looking forward to their October wedding at the Bayfront Mansion in St Augustine and are even more excited to call them our friends. Holly and Brock, we can’t wait to hang out with you two again!
You know when you really click with some people? You meet up and the conversation just flows, you feel like you’ve known them all your life, and there’s an instant bond? That’s how we feel about Jessi and Jeff. They’re an amazing couple with so much passion and energy.
Jessi and Jeff also have a pretty amazing story. They first met while working at the same radio station and although life took them down separate paths for awhile, they were destined to find each other again. One look at them is all it takes to see not only two people totally head-over-heels in love with each other, but two of the closest friends you’ll ever find.
Although Jessi and Jeff live here in Jacksonville, they picked Nashville, TN for their wedding, partly because of their connections to country music and the city, but also because the city just rocks! And since we never need an excuse to make a little road trip, we headed up to Tennessee to meet Jessi and Jeff for some awesome downtown Nashville engagement photos!
We started out at the historic Printers Alley, where Jessi and Jeff also showed off their signature dip for us. Printers Alley ended up being just one of many awesome alleyways that we found all over downtown Nashville.
As the sun went down, Nashville’s lights came alive. We went up onto an observation deck overlooking the Public Square before heading to Broadway Street, where the bright lights really helped bring out that Nashville energy and excitement!
Although we were taking pictures throughout, we had a really amazing time hanging out with Jessi and Jeff. We’re so excited for their Nashville wedding (wait til you see this venue!!), but we’re even more excited to call them our friends! We can’t wait to see them tie the knot in what will be a truly amazing Nashville wedding! : )
What are the chances that two people, from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, would navigate their ways through the myriad pathways of life, and not only meet, but find that they’re soulmates? If you think about it, the odds seem near impossible. But life has a funny way of taking that 1% chance and turning it into a 100% match!
This is how Rachel and John’s story began. Her, a sweet southern girl. Him, a shy guy from England. And yet they found themselves in the same place, on the same night, not even realizing that this first conversation would lead to them becoming inseparable!
When we first met Rachel and John, we were very excited to hear about all their plans for the wedding. Rachel is dreaming of the ultimate southern wedding in beautiful, historic St Augustine and she already has a ton of details planned for the big day! It’s a shame we have to wait until next year to share all their “juicy” details! ; )
Given John’s career in the aviation industry, we began their St. Augustine engagement photos at the old airplane graveyard near Northrup Grumman. We then moved to the streets of downtown St. Augustine and found so many great spots to shoot! We ended the morning at the St. Augustine beach pier, which has been rebuilt in recent years to include a very cool stone wall. We braved the high tide and headed under the pier for some shots in the shade. As the waves occasionally caught us by surprise, we found ourselves laughing and just having fun. It was the perfect way to end their shoot!
Rachel and John, we had a lot of fun and can’t wait to see you again on your wedding day (or sooner)! : )
A couple weeks ago, we met up with one of our 2011 couples, Tey & Mike, for some engagement photos at Jacksonville Beach. We started off at the lovely Casa Marina, which was the location of Tey & Mike’s second date! As we waited for the hot afternoon sun to set a little more, we went to the rooftop lounge for some drinks and conversation. We knew from our first meeting with them that they were very laid back and fun, and we had such a great time hanging out with them throughout the engagement session!
After a few photos around the beautiful exterior of Casa Marina, we headed down to the beach. Even though it was early Sunday evening, there will still hundreds and hundreds of people on the beach. Needless to say, a gorgeous couple like Tey & Mike caught a lot of attention. As people walked by we heard them whisper “Aw, they must be doing engagement photos!” But even though we could hear them, I don’t think Tey & Mike noticed. They weren’t shy at all, as if there was no one else around but them!
When the sun finally set, we went down to Atlantic Beach for a different vibe. It was more of a date night feel, with grainy black and white images along the gorgeous brick walls of the restaurants and bars that line the blocks of Atlantic Beach. We had so much fun spending a few hours with Tey & Mike and getting to know them better! Friday officially starts the 1 year countdown to their wedding day, and we can’t wait! It’s going to be GORGEOUS!
To tell you about Melissa & Alex, we first have to rewind to last September to Sheba & Nolan’s wedding at the Garden Club of Jacksonville. It was that evening that we first met Melissa & Alex, who were excited to be celebrating the marriage of their dear friends and also thinking about their own wedding day! Alex came up to us at the wedding and said that he was engaged and asked if we travel. Do we?!?! Heck yes, we LOVE to travel! So then he told us they live in the Boston area but were planning a Florida destination wedding. Now, I won’t spoil the surprise but I will tell you that you HAVE to come back and check the blog at the end of July to see the amazing wedding they have planned! It’s going to be off the charts incredible! I went down to Tampa to meet up with them during one of their meetings at the venue and… wow! Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one!
Fast forward to Memorial Day weekend. We were in New England to shoot two weddings and had plans to meet up with Melissa & Alex for some engagement photos in downtown Boston. We spent the morning at Fenway watching the Red Sox beat the Royals (more on that later this week) and then we met up with them at one of Boston’s most beautiful locations, the Public Garden. It was a gorgeous day and there were a lot of people there, but it’s such a huge park that we were able to find plenty of places that were quiet. From the very beginning, Melissa & Alex were so relaxed and were cute and flirty one minute and then sassy and sexy the next. All we had to do was click the shutter. They put a lot of thought into their session, and it turned out to be one of our favorite e-sessions ever!
After some engagement photos at the Public Garden, Melissa & Alex changed for a night on the town! I think my jaw dropped when we first saw them, because they looked amazing! I mean, seriously, just look at the photos. They are such a gorgeous couple!
They really wanted to do a shot in front of the subway, which was too fun! After a short ride on the train, we stopped for more engagement photos at Quincy Market. There were some fun street lamps that we just HAD to use! We came back to Quincy Market later for drinks and a couple of fun, grainy photos at Anthem Kitchen & Bar.
When Melissa & Alex were planning their engagement session, they asked around for locations and everyone said “You have to do engagement photos at Long Wharf.” We walked over there just as the sun was setting and casting hues of pink and purple on the tall buildings nearby. Facing East, we got the brilliant blue sky that we love to shoot so much! It was a gorgeous, romantic setting down at the wharf, and a great way to end the engagement session!
We are so glad we had a chance to meet up with Melissa & Alex before their wedding day! They are so much fun and now we’re so anxious for their wedding day to get here!!! We hope you guys had as much fun as we did, and we look forward to seeing you again next month for the big day! : )
Matt was so inspired from the moment we met Sammy & Allen! He directed much of the shoot and also wrote the blog post before I could even write one word! So here is their story from the POV of Mr. Tundermann.
Written by Matt Tundermann
Sammy & Allen’s journey together started at Cal State Fullerton in LA. They were both hanging out with a mutual friend, although Sammy admits that she didn’t even talk to Allen at first. But once they started talking, they both realized that they had almost identical class schedules. And now, years later, it’s easy to see how fate has brought together two people whose relationship has all the ingredients to be a long and lasting one; friendship, love, teamwork, and vision.
Speaking of vision, when Sammy & Allen contacted us to do some engagement photos in Southern California, they had an amazing vision for the setting they wanted; the rugged and beautiful beaches at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach, CA. This gorgeous location has special meaning to them because they spent time doing research for classes there. After some administrative wrangling and paperwork that had me feeling like a Hollywood producer, we headed off to Crystal Cove with our “cast and crew” for an amazing engagement session!
Crystal Cove is a combination of beautiful natural beaches, with waves crashing over rocks, towering cliffs overlooking the water, fields of bright flowers, and an a row of historic beach houses. It’s an amazing area with a fun, open-air feeling. We especially loved this hillside full of bright flowers with its fun, crazy-looking tree.
One of the many highlights of the day was our “shake break” at Ruby’s Shake Shack. Ruby’s sits in a little pull-off from the coastal highway in Newport Beach and serves some great classic shakes. We enjoyed having some downtime with Sammy & Allen to just chat, discussing some of their ideas for their wedding, and enjoying the incredible weather. By the end of our break, we felt like we had been friends with them for 10 years!
After our break, we headed back to the top of the cliffs to capture Sammy & Allen in a field of wild flowers as the warm California sun washed over them. Without any prompting, they just reached out to each other and enjoyed the warmth and affection that has made their relationship so strong.
The truly amazing part of the day was how natural Sammy & Allen are with each other in front of the camera. Whether it’s being playful and flirty or romantic and sweet, they have an easy time sharing their joy as a couple. And with a beautiful sunset as our final backdrop of the day, it was the perfect ending to a perfect shoot!
Sammy & Allen, thank you so much for allowing us to capture your engagement! : )
Happy Monday everyone! We just returned from Savannah (you’ll find out why later this week) but we couldn’t wait to return so we could post some Jacksonville engagement photos that we shot before we left!
We met up with Latoya & Clarence on a gorgeous afternoon! We began shooting at Jacksonville Beach and immediately we found out that they were not camera shy at all! From the beginning, they were playful and flirty, so we just clicked away! The beach was still busy for being so late in the afternoon, but we found a piece of beach to use and then once the pier cleared out we headed over there for some more photos before walking around to some of the fun walls around the beach.
After the beach, we went downtown to get some sunset/night shots. It turned out to be quite an amazing sunset, and the best view we got was from on top of the Main Street Bridge! Since we figured people would wonder if we added color to the sky (which we are asked a lot) we thought we would post the original shot with the edited one side by side (see below). Everything just worked out so well for this session that it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite engagement sessions!
Latoya & Clarence, thanks so much for making this session so much fun! We hope you enjoyed it, too, and we can’t wait until 2011!! : )
We get a lot of people who say our photos are so vibrant and some ask if we add color to them, so I thought I’d post an original (left) and an edited photo (right) side by side. The color has more to do with how we shoot the photo (choice of lens, camera settings, lighting, etc.). In our post processing we add a pinch more color, but the punchy look comes from adjusting the brightness and contrast.
Sometimes when things don’t go according to plan, it’s best to just throw the plan away and create a new one!
When we met up with Kim & Jamon a couple weeks ago for their engagement photos, we had just about every obstacle imaginable trying to keep us from our plans. The specific details we’ll keep to ourselves so that we can laugh about it with Kim & Jamon, but I will say that I never realized it could be so difficult to get to train tracks near a transportation company’s headquarters or a former grand train station. They seem like obvious places to find them, right? Seriously, their engagement session became quite an adventure, but it meant that we got to spend time getting to know each other as we went exploring downtown Jacksonville!
I think from the photos you’d never know that anything didn’t go according to plan. That’s because Kim & Jamon are so laid back and can enjoy each other’s company no matter where they are! They have the kind of love that inspires! That love where all the rest of the world becomes a blur and the one truth you know is in someone else’s eyes or the touch of their hand… <3
We posted a sneak peek of Cassandra & Terrance’s photos on Facebook at around 5am this morning. By the time I woke up, they had over 30 comments already! Anyone who has met Cassandra & Terrance can understand why they are so loved by friends and family. They are so genuine and caring and the love between them, well, the photos below attest to the strength of their love. It’s the way they look at each other and laugh together that says they have a love that will last!
We had so much fun shooting these photos! One thing we learned about Cassandra & Terrance is that they LOVE to shop! Yes, Cassandra you know you have a keeper when your hubby-to-be loves to shop as much as you! ; )
I can’t believe we have to wait a whole year to see Cassandra & Terrance say “I do!” We’ve been talking to them since last year and I am so anxious to see them get married because you can tell they were meant for each other. We love being around you guys and even though a year seems far away we know it will be here sooner than you know it! In the meantime, we look forward to getting to know you even better and can’t wait to meet all of your loving friends & family!
When Kera & I were talking about when to begin their engagement session, we somehow got this crazy idea that we should do a sunrise shoot! We both thought it was insane to get up that early, but it was soooo worth it! The beach was quiet and calm. Other than a couple other people out shooting and a few runners and surfers, there weren’t many people around so we had plenty of room to shoot without interruption. As we watched the sun quickly rise over the horizon, we were so in awe of its beauty. What better way to start a romantic photo shoot than watching a breathtaking sunrise?
Kera & Waymond are so super sweet! They are full of laughter and so at ease with each other that really all we had to do was sit back and observe and capture them being the way they naturally are together. At one point, someone stopped our shoot to tell Kera how beautiful she looked. She radiated with all the beauty of a woman in love, and it was so sweet to watch the way that Waymond looked at her so adoringly! After spending the morning with them, we really can’t wait for their wedding day! They are truly a couple that is meant for each other!
I smile when I look at their photos because they are so full of happiness that you can’t help but feel better by just being around them! We hope these photos make you smile, too! : )
