Tricia and Jon chose Francis Park for their engagement portraits today because they used to walk around it in the early mornings back when they were becoming friends.   Now they are getting married, and I will be photographing their wedding in October.  These guys were only the second couple I've ever had that began carrying on conversations each time I told them to look at one another (most people just laugh or make weird faces!)  They are both exceptionally nice, and we had a great time wandering around.  I did make them kiss a lot for photos, which caused Tricia to exclaim at the end of our session "Now I don't have to kiss you again for like a week!"  Sorry Jon!

Christopher claimed he would be happy if we got one single good image from our shoot today - hopefully he'll agree we managed more than one :)  We wandered around the Grand Basin in Forest Park, getting a little hot and sweaty in the process, for some fairly last-minute engagement portraits (no worries Jenn, there are worse offenders yet to come!)  Towards the end they agreed to make some weird faces to make a kind of series.  I'm not showing most of them in case Christopher wants to hide the evidence...The wedding is in November, so I'll be seeing these guys again soon - looking forward to it!

Robin and Walter are getting married in October, so we headed out today to take some engagement photos at Union Station.  The weather was beautiful (I can only hope that spring is finally here!)  These two couldn't stop laughing when I asked them to look at one another, which I always love.  You can't take yourself too seriously.  Thanks to these two for shooting with me today - here are some of my favorites from their session.

Amber and Ken had such great laughs today during their engagement photo session at the Laumeier Sculpture Park.  They just kept laughing, and I just kept shooting because those are some of my favorite photos.  We had to hide out from the rain in one of the sculptures for a bit until it cleared out, but overall it was fantastic weather (considering it is August in St. Louis!)  These two are getting married in Forest Park in May - I hope to see more laughter and good times at the wedding!

The rain tried to scare us off for this shoot on Saturday, but I am so glad that Renee and John were willing to give it a shot.  The lighting ended up being really nice, and we had a blast shooting around town.  We went to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport first, since John is a pilot.  It was fun to shoot with the planes - brave Renee even got on top of one (John's idea, not mine!)  Then on a whim we went to the graffiti wall downtown before heading to Lafayette Park.  These two were so fun and did pretty much anything I asked.  There are a ton of photos above because we spent so much time together it was hard to choose my favorites!  I can't wait to shoot their wedding in Ste. Genevieve next April.

We may have broken a few rules by climbing around on the sculptures at the Laumeier Sculpture Park (I swear I didn't see that sign...even though I took a photo of it...), but fortunately no one was around to notice.  Elizabeth was really great about hopping up and down off those things, even though she was wearing a white dress - I appreciate her sense of adventure!  I hope they had as much fun playing around in the park as I did this weekend.  These two are getting married next July, so I look forward to working with them again!

The rain around here is getting a bit nuts!  We rescheduled Sarah and Kevin's photos twice already, so when the weather looked threatening again this week, we just decided to chance it.  The rain stayed away, but it was a bit muddy in the park.  Fortunately these two didn't seem to mind - they still sat in the grass when I asked them to and didn't complain. They were too busy smooching the whole time to worry about things like mud :)  Thanks to Kevin and Sarah for being such good sports - I look forward to shooting their wedding this August!

Ashley and Adam were so much fun to photograph this Sunday at the Delmar Loop.  I've never shot an engagement portrait there before, but it was the perfect setting for these two.  We got a few inquisitive glances from people who were wandering about (particularly as Adam was dipping Ashley in the street), and I think someone even cheered them on at one point as they were smooching.  But these two were not camera shy, which made it really easy to get great photos.  They are in the process of moving to New York City this week, but they'll be back to get married this October - I can't wait for the wedding!     

I'm having a really productive Sunday, so I'm doing two blog posts today!  Jennifer and Patrick got engaged in Lafayette Park a year ago, so we went there today for their engagement photos.   I couldn't resist putting a ton of their images in black and white - these guys just look so good in black and white for some reason :)  They aren't getting married until October 2009, so I probably won't see them again for another year.  They are such planners! 

Initially Meg and Rusty wanted to go to a different location for their portraits.   I won't say where it was, but it was a spot I've grown tired of shooting over the past few months.  So I tried to talk them into doing a more urban shoot and driving around town with me to find all the cool run down buildings in St. Louis.  Fortunately for me, they went for it, and the photos turned out awesome.  They climbed on all kinds of weird stuff (including a dresser someone was throwing away...) and waded through crazy weed patches for me, it was great.  At one point we were all so covered with these stick weeds it looked like fringe.  They couldn't have had a better sense of adventure about the whole thing, and I think it paid off.

You'll see these two on the blog again very soon - they are getting married this Sunday!  They really pushed their engagements to the last minute, but I'm glad they decided to do it.  Based on this session, the wedding this weekend should be a blast!

It's definitely fall around here.  Poor Laura had a dress on at first, and with that wicked wind that was blowing through Forest Park, I think she was completely freezing.  Thankfully they had a second outfit with sweaters and jeans so we could keep going.  All of you who still have portrait sessions to come this fall, keep that in mind!  We found a few more trees with color than there were last week, so you can actually tell it is October in their photos.  Laura and Bryan are both really nice, and so easy to work with.  I'm sure their wedding next year will be just as great!

Lindsay and Dan are hilarious.  They were dancing, jumping, throwing each other around, playing in the fountain, and making the best expressions.  The shot of Dan cheering on the bridge happened after he beat Lindsay at that hand slapping game....what is that called, anyway?  It was so fun playing around with them in the park.  But before we headed to Forest Park we took a few shots at Dan's firehouse - he's a fire fighter in Granite City.  They had a bit of an audience, which means Dan will probably never live this down with the guys he works with.  I know the over-the-shoulder shot is a little bit of a repeat from the other day, but I could not resist it when Dan was in his work garb.  A family friend already snagged the job of shooting their wedding next September - I'm a bit bummed I don't get to work with these guys again.  Oh well, it was a fun afternoon!

Like most people this time of year, Tracy and Jason were desperate to get some fall color in their portraits.  Unfortunately, we only found two trees turning color in the area of Forest Park where we went today.  We made the most of those two trees, though!  At least we had sunshine and warm weather - that fall chill is coming quickly!

I think Angela stalked the weather report for about a week to figure out if it would rain for their portrait session on Friday.  We decided day-of that despite the cloudiness, it would be a good day to shoot in Faust Park and headed off.  Unfortunately, we only had about 15 minutes of patchy sunshine until it started raining on us.  We were trapped on the front porch of one of the old houses for a bit until we decided to head back out to shoot quickly before it started raining harder.  It's a good thing cloudy days make for the best lighting!  Thanks for tolerating a little rain, guys!

I love when couples like old run-down stuff as much as I do :)  Angela and Sean liked the more urban stuff I've been doing, so we wandered around downtown for some cool backdrops.  I've never seen someone so excited to sit in front of a pile of scrap wood - it was great!  We also took some photos at Angela's grandfather's house for good measure, which had some pretty fall colors.  I think they are my last engagement session for a while - thanks for making it so fun, guys!

It was COLD today!  Poor Sarah was freezing out there in her little sweater - eventually she had to stop taking the coat off for photos and just keep herself warm.  Fortunately, she and Dan didn't have a hard time smiling and laughing in the cold wind.  We shot a few photos at City Hall (which is where they got engaged last July), and then wandered over to Lafayette Park.  Hopefully it will be warmer for their wedding in March!

Sheena and Ryan are getting married in Florida in about 6 weeks, and they decided (somewhat) last minute to get some engagement photos taken in St. Louis before they leave.  We met at the Landing and then wandered around the riverfront for some more urban shots.  The wind was going crazy towards the end of their shoot, and Sheena's hair was definitely doing the whole windblown thing.  I think it looks cool in some of these shots.  At least we finished before the temperature dropped so drastically last night and the snow started!  Best of luck to Sheena and Ryan at their upcoming beach wedding!

Ok, so these two have been engaged a while....they are getting married at the start of June.  But since they both live out of town, this was the first chance we had to do engagement photos.  Good thing the weather was so nice this weekend!  The wind got a little crazy (poor Kate had hair flying everywhere), but it was fantastically warm for April.  I'll see these guys again in June - should be fun!

I've been interested in doing something a little different with my portrait sessions, and Lee and Rob graciously agreed to help me out by letting me follow them around on a date this weekend.  We went to the Soulard Market for some groceries, played at the Botanical Gardens, shopped at the Vintage Haberdashery, and had a glass of wine at 33.  It was a fun afternoon, and I think we got some great shots that represent who they are as a couple.  They claimed that they weren't photogenic - I strongly disagree.  I hope more people get into the idea of engagement photos as a date.  It's very creatively engaging for me and pretty fun for them!

Sheena might be my biggest blog-stalker :)  Or at least the one with the best memory!  She remembered all kinds of things from old blog posts - now it's her turn to be blogged!

We went to Main Street St Charles for some engagement photos on Sunday.  Sheena's bright red skirt provided some great contrast for the images.  It looks great against the green weeds along the riverfront.  You may recognize Sheena from Sarah and Dan's wedding photos - I love when I get to see clients partying at other weddings.  I'll see these guys partying again at their wedding in September - looking forward to it!

Jackie and Greg were really easy to photograph - they're really cute together and very sweet.  There was a lot of laughter between them as we wandered through Lafayette Park on Saturday.  Fortunately, it didn't rain as the forecasters had predicted, and we had wonderful light to play around in.  I'll see Jackie and Greg again for their wedding in September!

This session nearly got rained out, but Kelly and Joe persisted, and we did a quick shoot this morning during a break from the storms.  We shot in Lafayette Square, and managed to keep dry long enough to wander the park and the neighborhood.  I've shot in the area quite a lot recently, but I don't mind - I live less than 2 blocks from the park so I know this area pretty well.  Despite claiming he didn't like having his photo taken, I think Joe did a pretty good job laughing and posing - you'd almost think he had fun :)  I'll see these guys again for their wedding in October!

I've decided to extend the deadline for the Engagement Giveaway (posted below.)  You all now have until August 25th to send me your stories.  I'm also broadening the scope to include proposal stories.  So send me your best!  At the request of the "single friend" I mentioned in the post, she will be helping to judge the winners, so I hope to have a good variety to share with her.  Can't wait to read them!

Darci and Marc are the winners of my Engagement Photo Contest! 

These guys let me drag them to some of the places I've been dying to shoot in St. Louis before I leave town - including some run down buildings (one with a killer rooftop) and the train tracks behind Union Station.  At Union Station we worried for a minute about getting yelled at for being where we shouldn't.  As it turns out, we should have been more concerned about getting stuck.  While we were playing on one of the train cars furthest out,  another train started rolling in.  It made for good images at first...then we noticed we were completely trapped!  The train was really long, and there was no way around it to get back to our car.  In the end we had to duck under the other (not moving) trains, climb up a hill, hop over a fence, and then walk the long way back to the car.  It was really funny, and I'm glad Darci and Marc saw the humor in it instead of getting upset with me!

Thanks to all who entered the contest!  Darci and Marc met at a wedding back east a few years ago, where they bonded over a mutual love for mountain biking.  Marc was living in Colorado then, and it just wasn't the right time for them to get together.  But a few years later, the two had kept in touch and things fell into place.  Marc moved to St. Louis and they got engaged back in April.  Congratulations to them, and good luck with the wedding planning!