I met up with Adam at a coffee house in State College for a pre-wedding consultation. I also got to meet his fiance, Seana, via Skype as she was living in Atlanta, GA. Even though Adam and Seana were miles apart during our meeting, I could see the chemistry between them. After Seana had hung up, I told Adam how great I thought she was. ”Yeah. He said. Things are just falling into place for me. I recently got a new job and now I am about to marry her.” As he told me about how they met and why he loved her, I was totally charmed by the look in his eye. ”Head over heals,” I thought. It was beautiful.
A couple of months later, I got to meet Seana for real when she arrived in town the week of their wedding. All of their dating had been done long distance, as Seana not only lived in Atlanta, but travels extensively for work. They were so excited to see each other, it was hard to get them to keep their hands to themselves. Which I did not mind, because that is never a bad thing when it comes to engagement sessions.
They wanted to have their photography done on the Penn State campus at University Park. Since Adam lives in State College and went to Penn State, a special date had happened there and ended with their first kiss. We decided to meet at the Nittany Lion Shrine next to Rec Hall since that is where the big moment had happened. I walked over and found them standing by their car near the statue. We exchanged hugs and talked for a few minutes before I said, “Alright, let’s get started!” I grabbed my camera and started to walk over to the shrine to wait in line. That is when they corrected me that the kiss had not happened there, but over here by the Lion Shrine. At their car.
That was when they started to retell the moments leading up to the kiss. How they were standing. What they had just been doing. Recanting their conversation. Re-enacting the whole thing. It felt so special. As my heart swelled up like a big red balloon, I carefully composed pictures. What we have now, is a story told in photographs. A beautiful, unique and quaint love story.
The stacks were next. What Penn State grad has not dreamed of taking their true love up to the stacks for a little make out session? I think it is super sweet that Adam had exactly that in mind. His mother is a librarian, so he thought that getting some photographs in the Paterno Library during their engagement session would make her happy.
One of the reasons that we offer engagement sessions with our packages is that they allow us to really get to know our clients. How they interact with the camera, how they fit together and most of all, I do my best to translate their personalities into their pictures. The more I shot Adam and Seana, the more I laughed. I like to think of my work as a collaboration. A collaboration between me and my subjects. These two had all kinds of fun and crazy ideas they wanted to try. ”Get us peaking around the book shelves,” they yelled. As I clicked away, Adam made the funniest faces (see below right). We had a really great time!
The artist in me could not resist sneaking in a little Frida Kahlo into the session.
We headed outside and walked to all of the special places Adam had planned for us to go. The original Arboretum (located right outside the building where Steve and I first met), Alumni Hall gardens, the lawn outside of Old Main. It was a wonderful evening spent getting to know each other, sharing Penn State stories and getting excited for their wedding that was happening the following weekend up in Troy, PA. I could do about four blog posts with all of the gorgeous photographs we created this evening, but I will leave you with a few more highlights.
I love how the trees make a kind of heart behind them (above) and then around their heads in the photo below!
At the end of the session, they invited me to the Allen Street Grill for dinner. We sipped wine and ate amazing food. As I listened to them share about their families, their backgrounds and more about their relationship I soaked in every word. Two beautiful people that I am so thankful to have met. The best part was that they wedding was yet to come!
no comments