High school sweet hearts Sarah and Patrick are an absolute JOY! Since they live in Atlanta, we've had to reschedule a few times due to the pandemic. Sarah is a nurse fighting Covid-19 on the front lines! So I'm so beyond happy they were able to celebrate their engagement with a relaxing and sun filled weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida! And of course be my gorgeous models!! They were troopers and woke up early on their vacation.

I love sunrise for photography because: 

1. The beach is empty! 
2. Not as hot
3. Gorgeous light! The sun rising over the ocean is just stunning! It's the morning version of golden hour
4. You have the rest of the day to do whatever you want! Especially on vacation, you don't want to have to worry about getting too sunburned or having too many drinks before an evening session haha. 

From the first frame, I knew this would be an amazing session. Normally, it takes couples (myself included!) a lot of time to get into a flow and get comfortable in front of the camera. But these two puzzle pieces just perfectly aligned and snapped into place and magic followed. I love how they look at each other, so deeply in love, genuine smiles and laughter, even at sunrise! I was so happy to be able to celebrate their love and (hopefully!) make them feel special after they have worked so hard. Thank you both for letting me be a part of your vacation and documenting this beautiful chapter! 

I love being a Miami wedding photographer and living on South Beach! Daniela + Zhen were cool enough to wake up at sunrise and meet me in the Art Deco district on Miami Beach! The beaches have sadly been closed due to the pandemic and the curfew. But, Ocean Drive was closed to cars so we were able to take some pretty cool photos frolicking down the the empty world famous street!! The college sweet hearts met through Cuban Students Club at school and are about to move to New York City for Zhen's residency. They both proposed to each other at a Harry Potter murder mystery party Zhen threw! They both wear engagement rings, heck yes! I loved that they leaned into the Covid situation and brought masks, a measuring tape, and Corona beer! I love even more that they brought a Darth Vader mask and were down for some "force" pictures haha. Just the coolest!! It makes me so happy when couples are so happy and are themselves! I'm not a posey photographer, obviously, and I love making sure each engagement session is perfectly unique to you! I love showing off your personality and your story. Sometimes that story involved champagne and Star Wars and that's really rad. 

Of course I had to get in on the fun!

5 years ago, Chanelle + Cole met at a cafe during the MLB playoffs, hit it off and slid right into their adventuring (puns intended)! They toured MLB stadiums, visited several new cities and states, got engaged at sunrise on floating cabin in Illinois, and now engagement pictures at sunset in Miami, Florida! I love their spirits for exploring new places hand in hand! I so loved showing off one of my favorite parks, Mattheson Hammock Park, full of Spanish moss and air plants hanging from ancient trees, and a palm tree lined beach that's magical during golden hour. Thank you so much for including me on this beautiful 8th adventure together! 

Dulce and Marci are truly the most loving, selfless, and brave couple. Dulce is a nurse and Marci is a multi tour veteran who now works in security with a side hustle in photography. They save, heal, and protect others. I am in awe of them! So of course I was over the moon when Marci, a fellow photographer I met and connected with at another session, asked me to document their proposal. We planned everything out!

• ​Cover Story: So Dulce wouldn't get suspicious, our cover story was that I wanted them to model for me and I needed beautiful people to be my models at this location. Obvi, they're stunning inside and out.
• Video: I also filmed the proposal, so I told her I needed lots of BTS footage for social media.
• Location: A private gazebo with one entrance so no one could get in the shot. 
• Ring: The box was too big for her jacket or pants, so she hid it in my backpack and then when the moment came, I slyly handed it to her while I fixed Dulce's hair
• Surprise: I asked them to do a back to back shot and then stepped in position them. When I asked them to turn around Marci was on one knee and Dulce was so surprised! 

I can't thank you both enough for letting me be a part of such a special moment and perfect day. Thank you both for your service, your joy, and your unconditional love!

I have been loving taking my film camera to engagement sessions! I have been photographing on my Pentax 645n on the beautiful Fuji 400h Film. I love the warmth, the saturation, and the novelty of film. I love the timelessness, I love how it makes me slow down, and I love that my couples love film too! With film, I don't have an automatic focuser, so I have to measure the light, compose the shot, then manually focus! It's a part math and science and part dumb luck haha. I am a hybrid wedding photographer so I photograph both film and digitals! Digitals are great for quick action shots and low lights. While I love film for portraits and details :) These three engagements' digital counter parts can be found on my blog too! 

1. South Pointe Park engagement on Miami Beach with R+E
2. Bay Front Park engagement and family reunion with M+K
3. Mattheson Hammock Beach Picnic with C+P

I'm excited to add film photography to my wedding packages too! If you want to know more about adding film to your engagement, elopement, or wedding please let me know! 

This day had it all!
A beautiful couple, an adorable puppy in a fly bow tie, sunshine through the Spanish moss and palm trees, pizza picnic, rosé all day, and even matching jean jackets with embroidered hearts and their wedding date! J+B are high school sweet hearts and have been inseparable since! Brian proposed on a beautiful boat ride in Fort Lauderdale! These two have hearts of gold! J is going to school to be a speech pathologist! We laughed and talk about food, dogs, and their upcoming wedding!  I loved frolicking through the fields, prancing with the puppy, ad setting up an Instagram worthy picnic that made the near by teenagers super jealous. I love that they let their genuine selves shine through! SO excited to document their wedding day, love y'all! 

Mary and Eric are the coolest! They met at a mutual friend's wedding in Raleigh 4 years ago at the very end of the night. But, like every good fairy tale, it was just the beginning! They went on a date a week later and the rest is history! Mary was actually throwing Eric a surprise 30th birthday party this past May where they rode the Great Raleigh Trolley before reaching the destination of the party where their family and other friends were waiting. At the halfway point of the trip Eric proposed to Mary on Boylan Bridge! It was perfect because little did Eric know that they were going to be seeing all of their friends and family shortly after at his surprise party! So of course we had to go back to the Boylan Bridge for photos! I had the best afternoon visiting the most beautiful downtown Raleigh spots and talking about soccer, jobs, and their upcoming wedding! 

I've know M+K for years! They were some of my very first photography clients when we lived in North Carolina and I'm forever grateful for their trust in me all those years ago! We first met through mutual friends and they've since moved to Atlanta and are pursuing their doctorate degrees! They love seeing new places and M's sister joined the adventure. So I was able to capture all three of them as we explored Miami's downtown bay front museum park! I love the white tiles, the palm trees, the city views, and the water front. I've been wanting to photograph here for a while, so of course my adventurous friends were up to check it out with me! After all these years, their love is still joyful, infection, and overflowing! Thank you three for such a fun afternoon and I can't wait until next time! 

Chelsea and Tuck are from my home state, North Carolina. And, in fact only live a few minutes from our hometown Raleigh! Chelsea is a fellow wedding photographer in the Triangle and her wife is a police officer in Cary. We met through a mutual photographer friend and I couldn't have been more excited to document these two love birds! I always love photographing fellow artists because we speak the same language! We talked business and I got to hear some amazing stories from brave Tuck. These two are really just so special and give so much to their community! They were in town on a photography job and decided to make a vacation out of it! They love the beach and palm trees so this hidden beach key was the perfect spot! They eloped in the Dominican Republican surrounded by palm trees and the water, so how perfect to relive that and celebrate their love! 

Thank you both for such a beautiful afternoon chasing seagulls and frolicking through the ocean with me!