I’ve developed quite a backlog of images this summer, due to a combination of a lot of shooting and a lot of vacationing.  I’ve been looking forward to this post for a long time, though.  Meredith and Patrick are getting married in less than one week, so I guess I’m just in time!

Click the photo to see their set.

When I met Meredith and Patrick, I liked them immediately.  They are both architects and were interested in low-key, artistic, candid photography – pretty much straight photojournalism.  They seemed hip and artistic themselves, so I knew I could probably try some more daring images with these two.  When they suggested the location – just around their neighborhood in Blacksburg – I was thrilled.  No joke.  I do a lot of shoots in beautifully groomed parks, overlooks, landmarks, etc.  I knew that traipsing around the residential areas of Blacksburg to find good spots would be a really fun challenge.

P.S. Right now I am in New York City -best place in the world – in my brother-in-law’s Brooklyn apartment.  Coincidentally, he and his wife are ALSO both architects and ALSO got married on July 24!  I think this is probably good luck.

Back to Patrick and Meredith… we started at their house, where they often sit on the porch together.  Their house is really cute, especially on the inside.  I was drawn immediately to the fireplace, which has lots of photos of the two of them and their travels.  Meredith has a knack for framing pictures in a really clean, modern way, but still with a lot of character.  I really, reeeeeeeeeally love this set of images, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one or two will end up on their mantel, in one of her pretty frames.

I love this shot of Patrick laughing.

The next photo of Meredith is one of my favorites, and due to a new culling/marking method I was trying, it almost got left out of the set!   I just love how soft the colors turned out, even with very little editing.  This is an example of why I usually shoot in the late evening (or early morning) – the light is so soft and perfect, even if it’s hot.

I think their expressions in this one are so cute.

The next set of photos is a little more “artistic.”  We found a field overlooking some mountain views and I took the opportunity to practice a little free-lensing.  Free-lensing is when you actually detach the lens from the camera and hold it in your hand.  The advantage is that you can angle the lens to get unique blurriness and distortion – sort of like a poor man’s tilt-shift.  It’s really useful for adding an extra soft blur to the background (in this case, we were shooting by a new construction site, which is not necessarily very romantic), and for keeping only a small part (or none!) of the photo in focus, especially when combined with a narrow depth of field.  *If you want to see some GREAT free lensed work, check out Geneoh, a gifted young photographer based in Michigan.*

Most of my portraits are a bit more classic, and I don’t try freelensing with everyone. I figured two architects could pull it off and appreciate the result.

Sometimes the edge of the lens accidentally gets in the frame and causes a big black curve.  I showed these to Meredith and explained that I could crop out the lens curve.  She replied, “I don’t know, I kind of like it!”  My kind of girl!

We really raced through this shoot.  Engagement sessions usually take about two hours.  In Meredith and Patrick’s case, they were ready to roll from the very beginning, and we knocked out ALL of the above photos in the span of 45 minutes or so.  Since we still had plenty of light, I suggested we go downtown to the Kent Square parking garage and try some more urban-style photos.

This next shot is one of my favorites of the year.  I love all the diagonal shadow lines and the soft colors of the concrete.

(I really liked her shoes.)

OK, believe it or not, these next two images were not posed.  All I said was “stand apart and look at each other.”  They did the rest. I think they’re great.

Sunset on a parking garage = beautiful light.

Definitely one of my favorite sessions of the year.

And just think… this time next week, they’ll be married!