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Jenn and Ryan are the type of clients that know exactly what they want, and I love that. When it came time to schedule their engagement, they knew when and exactly where they wanted to do it. They’re natives to Alexandria, met just up the road at Marymount University, and are getting married right in the heart of Old Town Alexandria this July. They love their city and knew right off the bat that their engagement had to be downtown Alexandria.

We started the session at the Carlyle House gardens, a gorgeous little place I’d never been before. Tucked away behind a beautiful mansion amongst the tiny streets of Alexandria, if they hadn’t told me it was there I would have walked right by, which is a travesty because these gardens are GORGEOUS! As sweet as Jenn and Ryan are, they have a killer kick-ass-ness to them that I wanted to capture that with some more urban-y backdrops. They both have really cool tattoos, and theyre super laid back and basically make me look like a total nerd on even my best day. So we did one of my favorite things to do in an engagement session, we picked a street, and wandered around! We found some really cool architecture and alleyways that were just the perfect backdrops for them.

After Old town, we headed up to the George Washington Masonic Temple, another Alexandria landmark that I cannot believe I had never been to before. As die hard-Alexandrians (did I just make that up? Alexandri-ites?) Jenn and Ryan knew they couldn’t NOT go here. They told me while we were there that it’s absolutely one of their favorite spots not only in Alexandria, but in the entire DC area. So anyways, we shot a bit on the stairs, and eventually found our way to the beautiful fields behind the Temple.

It was a killer session and I absolutely cannot wait for their wedding, congrats you two!

 

Did you know that if you book me as your photographer, celebrities WILL flock to your engagement. No lie, it’s just a fact. Fact. Forest Whitaker makes an appearance in this engagement. Fact. Jolie and Mike are freakin’ AWESOME. Fact. I’m out of facts.

Here is yet another killer example of why I am madly love DC. You can pick any street downtown and pretty much guarantee an infinite amount of unique backdrops. We met on P street near Logan circle, and right off the bat, we found a wall of graffiti covered in Shepard Fairey art (the Obama “Hope” guy), then we saw a guy wearing a feathered hat that looked like it weighed 20 pounds. I freaking love that!

I feel like a lot of the photography in DC can get so repetitious so quickly, not that anyone’s to blame. It’s a gorgeous city with gorgeous architecture, but I think it’s so important for couples to try and be as true to who they are as possible. When Jolie told me that she and Mike were looking for an urban location that was a little more unique, with bright colors and cool features, I knew I hit the jackpot. These two aren’t looking for ordinary, because they aren’t ordinary. In fact, when I asked how they met, Mike said they met through mutual friends, which is something I’ve definitely heard before, and perfectly ordinary. What I haven’t heard is what he said after that. “I knew the second I met her that she was it. Yup, that was it.” How cool is that?

You can also check out their engagement on Capitol Romance!

 

 

Oh….and Forest Whitaker

So many things to say and show with this engagement, so many AWESOME AWESOME things. Just one for now!

 

Kristen+Aaron met me real early to take advantage of some gorgeous DC morning light for their engagement session. If you’ve never seen DC, or any city at 7am, give it a go. It will blow your mind how peaceful and quiet it is. But it’s funny how it can turn on a dime in just a couple hours. So here are me, Aaron, and Kristen, minding our own business, just getting some awesome shots in front of a garage door, right? When this guy has the AUDACITY to open the garage and scare the bejeezus out of all of us. Thank God he wasn’t in a rush, would have flattened us all, and we can’t have any of that nonsense going on. Flat clients aren’t nearly as photogenic as three-dimensional ones. Anywho, we all had a blast and got some truly gorgeous shots, see for yourself!