Alexa and Michael got in touch with me early fall to see about getting some engagement photos in and around Boston before all the color disappeared from the trees. They are both not Boston locals so it was really nice to be able to get them some photos together in their new city. As someone that has moved to the area fairly recently myself it is nice to chat with others that have relocated to this wonderful city and get their impressions as well. We picked the Boston Public Gardens and Beacon Hill (part 2 coming soon) for the setting and backdrop of their engagement photos, two place that I really love shooting at.
The Boston Public Gardens are a great location for engagement photos, with a number of smaller locations inside that give you a range of feel to your photos. You can get intimate images as well as photos that bring the crowds and other people into them as well to give you something completely different. The stonework of the bridge over the duck pond is really nice and within 20 feet you have two very different locations, on and under the bridge. The colors in the trees were really nice still at the time of the shoot and so gave an added color punch to the photos too.
BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS | ALEXA AND MICHAEL
It was really great fun meeting and photographing Alexa and Michael and it was clear from the start that they were both very comfortable with each other in front of the camera. It can take a while to get used to having your photos taken on an engagement shoot, this isn’t something that you do every day. I try and make my engagement sessions as relaxed as possible as this really lets peoples characters come out and it seemed clear to me very quickly that these guys were very happy together.
You can’t head to the Boston public gardens for engagement photos and not include those great willow trees into at least a handful of the images!
It would have been easy to have not included any black and white photos in the set of final images, with all the wonderful color that was popping on the trees but I really love to deliver a mix of both formats. I think the black and whites photos give a really nice quality and atmosphere to images.
We finished up inside the public gardens on the bridge over the duck pond to capture some of the crowds of people, before heading outside to make use of the railings that surround it. This was our last stop before heading on over to Beacon Hill for a costume change and a completely different feel to the second half of their sitting.
We had arranged this engagement session to take place on a Saturday evening, but the weather that day did not want to play. It was pouring with rain in the morning, and the forecast was calling for more of the same. We made the call to change the shoot to Monday evening instead and were rewarded with one of the nicest evenings we could hope for down by the Charles River.
I have shot engagement sessions and lifestyle shoots on the Charles before, but this time we really wanted to explore all that this part of Boston had to offer. Starting with Fernando and Vanessa around an hour before sunset meant that we were going to get the best light of the day for their photographs. The hour before and after sunset or sunrise gives a beautiful light, and while I will rise at 4:00AM to shoot landscapes, expecting couples to get up at that time for an engagement session might be a bit much.
I’m capturing Vanessa and Fernando’s Boston wedding in August this year and this was a great chance to get them both in front if the camera and spend some time with them. The Esplanade is a really great place for engagement photos in Boston, with the landscaped parks and Charles River providing a great backdrop, and there are lots of really interesting places within a short walk.
I knew that I wanted to get them some shots over the bridges that cross the water and also incorporate some with the intricate masonry that lines the side of the still water pools that can be found along Boston’s esplanade. With the evening sunshine coming in and lighting them, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.
After we shot there, we wanted to get some other images with the Longfellow Bridge in the background, as well as some of the sailboats that are a trademark of that part of town. The little docks that line the back of the Charles River gave us another great location for Fernando and Vanessa.
I had a great time shooting with them both in Boston on a perfect summer evening. I can wait to catch up with you both again very soon for the big day!
If you are interested in having your engagement session at the Esplanade and along the banks of the Charles River or getting your Boston engagement photos in another part of town then don’t hesitate to get in touch, I can’t wait to hear from you. Oh and of course don’t forget to “like” the Facebook page here as well!
Brigitte and Chris got in touch with me last year to inquire about shooting their wedding in Cape Cod this Fall, and to talk about the possibility of an engagement session in Beacon Hill and other parts of Boston. I normally get the chance to sit down and chat with the couples I work with before we get the cameras out and start shooting, but this was made a little tricky by the fact that Brigitte and Chris live and work in Switzerland. This meant that the first time I got to meet them both was for their engagement session when they were visiting Boston last September for a family wedding.
I had spoken with them both over the phone and via Skype, so we had the chance to discuss their wedding day and engagement session beforehand, and I was really looking forward to meeting them both in person in Boston on their trip.
We started shooting near Beacon Hill, which is a location I really enjoy using as a setting for engagement sessions. The streets aren’t too busy and they form the perfect backdrop, with little alleys and the details in the houses and street furniture adding subtle points of interest to the engagement photos. There is a great mix of colors as well and using these where possible gives the photos a nice pop.
We headed to Acorn Street to capture some more engagement photos there too. A Beacon Hill engagement session isn’t really complete without adding in the landmark Acorn Street with its cobbled surface. Again, the old houses and backdrop really add a nice romantic feel to the whole shoot. Brigitte and Chris would have looked great wherever we had shot though, and it was easy to see from the start what a great connection they had.
We continued moving through Beacon Hill, stopping at a few more locations to get some extra images before we headed into the center of town for some additional shots. It was hard to stop photographing these two as we walked through Beacon Hill, as everywhere I looked I saw the chance of getting another set of photos. Brigitte and Chris looked stunning, and I couldn’t have asked for more!
We headed into town and to the State Room in Boston to get some more shots. Brigitte and Chris are getting married at the Wychmere Beach Club on Cape Cod which is run by Longwood Events. Longwood Events also run the State Room, so Brigitte and Chris got the OK to shoot some images there as well. What a wonderful venue, and what a view of the city you get from up there! It was my first time shooting in the State Room, and the unique setting gave us the chance to get another completely different set of images for Brigitte and Chris’ Boston engagement shoot.
Combining the wonderful interior with the great views and the famous clock tower was the icing on the cake. On the way back to the car park we even managed to get one final reflection shot in the building lobby too! It was great fun shooting with you both, and I really cannot wait to catch up with you in September.
If you are interested in arranging a Beacon Hill engagement session or one in another part of Boston or New England then please don’t hesitate to get in touch, I’m looking forward to hearing from you, and don’t forget to “like” the Facebook page here for up to date information.
I had been looking forward to shooting Sara and Brian’s North End engagement photos ever since she got in touch mid-way through the summer. I had photographed one engagement session in the North End before, but was looking forward to finding some new spots with these guys, and was happy to say we succeeded.
Their North End engagement shoot had been postponed from mid October to mid November due to a bad weather weekend, but we ended up with such a nice weekend in November it all turned out OK in the end! Starting just down the road from Starbucks (always nice to kick start with some caffeine), we didn’t waste any time getting going, shooting in Christopher Columbus Park.
Moving through different parts of the North End in Boston, we were able to capture a variety of different scenes throughout the engagement shoot. I think we got a great overall feel for the North End from the session.
The North End provides countless engagement photo opportunities, as every turn down another road offers something new to incorporate and different light to work with. You also get the chance to use the city of Boston as a backdrop for a few shots. The cobbled section of the North End was definitely worth a stop off for some photos there.
One of my favorite parts of the North End to shoot in is the Paul Revere Mall in between St Stephen’s Church and the Old North Church. The quality of light there on this day was fantastic and Sara and Brian were so fun to work with, I couldn’t have asked for more.
Moving from here we had a change of outfits, which was easily done as they live right in the North End. We then made the most of the great little streets that you find throughout the North End. These streets are packed with character and wonderful architecture and are the ideal backdrops for a North End engagement session.
Nothing says the North End more than a great big Italian flag! Incorporating that into the shots gave us a nice splash of background color and using just the white of the flag gave us some nice high key images as well.
We finished up back on the waterfront to get some photos there and on the way back to their place found another great little spot where we still had some color left in the trees. Thank you Sara and Brian for letting me capture your North End engagement pictures. I hope that you have fun looking back through them and all the best with your West Coast wedding next year.
If you’re interested in having your engagement photos taken in the North End or other parts of Boston or New England then don’t hesitate to get in touch by using the contact form you can find by clicking here. Don’t forget to “Like” us over on Facebook as well.
This may be one of the most varied engagement sessions I have shot, and man was it fun! If you like, old cars, balloons, countryside, old barns, chickens or airplanes then you may like what is coming next! Brittany and Chris’s New England engagement session was photographed in New Hampshire at the beginning of this month, just after hurricane Sandy postponed us a few days.
We started off photographing Brittany and Chris’ New England engagement session at Brittany’s sisters house. Brittany’s brother in law, Dana, is a mechanic and restores old classic cars as well, and so we were able to use some of these in the shoot. The classic old yellow Chevy still ran perfectly and after shooting with it around the house, Dana kindly drove it up to another location so that we could carry on shooting and add a little more variety into the shots. The old car fit perfectly into their New England engagement photos and it was really good fun working it into the session.
After moving the car up into the hills, I wanted to show the New England scenery and place Brittany, Chris and the old Chevy all into it so it would fit nicely together. I also wanted to give them a good mix of black and white and color photos from their engagement session. The old car really lent itself to black and white, but I think with its yellow color, it would have been a shame not to have shown this off as well.
It was an overcast day with the odd burst of sun and more common threat of rain, but it held off for most of the day. The light was actually really nice to work with and it turned out to be a classic New England day of weather, constantly changing every five minutes or so. This was the first time I had ventured up to New Hampshire for an engagement session and after having shot a lot of engagement photos in and around Boston, this was a nice mix to be able to add to the blog. I hope to shoot lots more New England engagement sessions in different parts of the region next year and this shoot definitely got me itching for more.
Having finished up shooting with the yellow Chevy in the hills, we headed back to the house for a change of clothes and a different feel to the shoot. We still wanted to capture that classic New England feel and I think working the red barns into the shoot definitely did that.
Brittany had picked up some balloons from her mum’s shop earlier that day and this gave us the chance to have an injection of color into their engagement session as well. We had had a little drop of rain and that helped punch the colors in the surrounding New England countryside, but the balloons gave it that little something extra and were a fun addition to the engagement pictures.
If you thought we were done, think again. Don’t forget we still have planes to come! Brittany’s family live close to each other in this part of New England. She has an aunt and uncle just down the road, and that was our next port of call. They live in a wonderfully picturesque part of New Hampshire with stone walls surrounding their property, a pond and old barns and with a little bit of color left in the trees, this was all I needed for the next part of their engagement shoot.
We weren’t quite finished with the cars yet either. Dana had another old Chevy sitting in the drive and I wanted to incorporate that into their engagement shots as well. It was parked in a spot where the light was really nice and it created a great foreground for a series of shots for Brittany and Chris. Just at the back of the house was a wood pile that caught our attention as well. The pile of chopped wood made for a really interesting backdrop for a couple of shots and we couldn’t go without at least grabbing a couple.
On our way back to Brittany and Chris’ house, we stopped by the nursery that Brittany’s family own and took the chance to add a few more shots in a place that had been in the family for a few generations. This was a great little spot to add some extra photos to their New England engagement shoot.
I promised you planes, and planes you shall have! Chris works for the Federal Aviation Administration in Nashua, NH and is a qualified pilot, so we were allowed access to the runway for a few photos. This was the plane that Chris has actually flown before so it was great to be able to incorporate it into some of the shots as well. It was a super fun way to finish off the shoot and it was a first for me again. It was really good fun being able to add these plane shots into their engagement session and I think you’ll agree that they both looked the part!