I recently spent an afternoon photographing  Julia and Walter’s engagement session at Gantry Plaza Park.  The Park overlooks the East River and Midtown Manhattan.  It’s a great modern space that is simple, clean, well kept, and most of all, not crowded!  A fantastic day with fabulous light and a good looking couple is a photographer’s dream come true.  It was amazing that we were able to fit the shoot in between Walter’s hectic, firefighting, hockey playing, dart throwing and barkeeping schedule!

I had been looking to shoot the Fire Island Lighthouse for a long time and was so pleased when Marissa informed me that this is where they had choosen to shoot their engagement session.  The Fire Island National Seashore, FINS for short, has so many gorgeous scenes to offer with simple, uncluttered natural landscapes.  Besides all of the postcard scenes there is wildlife roaming and flying all about.  Seeing a deer from 20 feet away is a big deal for a city slicker like myself.  We had a great time on our engagement session/nature hike.  Stay tuned for Marissa + Bill’s wedding post from the Woodlands (more nature) later this year!

Every time I visit the Highline park I’m amazed at how they turned an elevated train track into a gorgeous park.  The Highline and surrounding areas of the Meatpacking District and Greenwich Village are some of the nicest places in Manhattan to shoot in.  Clarinda, Bill and I had a great time seeing the sights and talking about their upcoming June wedding.

Alison and Jason have spent their relationship falling in love in, and with, the cozy little harbor town of Northport.  This was a bittersweet day for them as they had just finished packing up their walk-up on Main Street in preparation for for a  move to Grand Island, New York.  We visited all of their favorite spots and had a fantastic time capturing memories.  They’re both doing great upstate and I’m looking forward to their return for the wedding in June!

Hannah + Garrett wanted an epic engagement session that featured all of their favorite spots in the city.  So, that’s what we did!  It was a long day, but it was so worth it!  We started at Grand Central Terminal, then headed to Central Park to the spot that Garrett had proposed just a few months earlier.  After working up an appetite, we stopped at their favorite bakery, Crumbs, for some snacks.  After a quick change, we headed to the Hudson River and finally ended the shoot in and around Times Square.  These two go down in the record books as the first couple to outlast me!

What a season the fall has been!  While the blog has suffered a bit of posting neglect, I have been busy as ever shooting all types of sessions, editing, and delivering images to my awesome clients as fast as I can.   Now that the holidays are here and we have some time before wedding season starts up again I’ll be showcasing some of my favorites from the past few months.  First up –  Check out Julia and Denis’ engagement session in their old summertime stomping ground, the Coney Island Boardwalk,  and stay tuned for their wedding post coming soon!

Krista and Dave are crazy for 3 things.  Wine – so we stopped at a Vineyard, Lobster Rolls – so we went to “The Lobster Roll“, and finally each other; so they are getting married!  I had a blast hanging out with them, and am now a huge fan of lobster rolls.  I’ll never be able to drive past that place again without stopping in and paying the $20 toll for lobster on a hot dog bun again.

Today is daylight savings and I’d thought I’d use my extra hour to take us back to warmer times as the cold and photography unfriendly winter draws near.  I had previously shot a wedding here way back in the beginning of my career and had always wanted to come back for an engagement session where I would have hours with a couple, myself, and everything the Asbury Park NJ boardwalk has to offer.  I had been waiting for the right couple and the second I met Lauren and Jesse I knew they were going to be the fun loving and adventurous  couple I was looking to shoot on the Jersey Shore.   This session was also our first featured on Merci New York  and Contemporary Bride Wedding Style blogs which was very rewarding honor.   We had a blast!  Stay tuned for Lauren and Jesse’s 9/17 wedding blog post soon!

No they didn’t get swallowed by a flying baby elephant with big ears… DUMBO is the area in Brooklyn between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.  DUMBO stands for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge overpass”.   It is the one of the city’s most popular photo destinations right behind Central Park.  It has a lot of diverse and interesting photographic scenes that all just scream NYC.  With Rebecca and Mark having grown up not far away, it was an easy and perfect choice for them to have their engagement portraits taken here.   They both told me that the session reminded them of the fun they had on their first date years ago.  It’s important to me that engagement sessions be an enjoyable and memorable experience for our clients.  Hearing comments like that is extremely satisfying.  Thanks guys!