Engagements are such happy news — I realize this reality increasingly as more of my friends are becoming engaged to be married…it is such a joyful experience for everyone!

I met Andy and Meg at Vine, and they are such genuine people.  As a couple, they are so very handsome together!  Cobden and Alto Pass were fitting locations to express their fun-loving and peaceful personalities :)  If you’ve never been, Yellow Moon Cafe in downtown Cobden is a contemporary-rustic hangout spot filled with friendly people, and that’s where we began our photo-journey :)

It’s hard to miss the Cafe during the day because there is this beautiful midnight-blue wall with a huge yellow moon on the side of the building :)  I love this sequence below on the blue wall — shows off their goofy side!

Meg brought a quilt that her grandmother made to be featured in the photos — which also helped keep them warm in our weird southern-illinoisan winter

This yellow wall is pretty striking as well!!

Andy made wooden flowers for Meg to mark significant moments in their relationship: the white daisy on their first date, all the way to the full bouquet when he proposed — such a unique and heartfelt way to symbolize love :)

Getting to Skyline by the sunset was perfect, as we got different colors and lights to match the epicness of the bluffs and mountains.  It was completely breathtaking.

So. Epic.

I’m ending with some shots from the Cafe, where their deep, deep joy was evident from the very start :) 

Canon 7D, 35mm f/1.4L; VSCO

Most of us think we want Christmas to be like this:

…when perhaps what most of us need is this:

May you all know true Love and Light that wrap around and around and around and never let go.

To all who gave me the privilege of helping to make memories with those you love, THANK YOU!  You have enriched my life through DNJY more than you will ever know <3

Below is a slideshow of one portrait from every shoot in 2011, enjoy!

She said, “YES YES!!!” :)

http://www.weddingwire.com/sarahandkaleb

Music: “101010” by Sleeping at Last, “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates, “Next to Me” by Sleeping at Last

I am breaking the norm and blogging at the end this time.  All I really need to say [after all these expressive portraits] is that every night, I thank God for the people I have and will grow to know and love in my short life here on this planet we call Earth.  Kaleb and Sarah are great examples of people who have become such great friends to me, no words can describe it.  Perhaps this is indicative: there is not a time when I don’t laugh until my stomach hurts when I am around these people! :D

I met Kaleb and Sarah while helping out at Vine with videos for the kids’ program.  Not only are they super fun people, they are incredibly talented as well — acting, singing, stand-up comedy (shout-out to Kyler!!!), filmmaking, and arts of all kinds.  More importantly, they are incredibly genuine and kind in a way that is extremely rare and valuable.  

If you watched the video above, you’d have caught a glimpse of the amazing love they share.  If they hold this kind of love and patience now at the engagement, I can’t help but be extremely excited for what their marriage holds as they cultivate and grow further down the years together :)

I love you both so much, and I can’t wait to party at your wedding!!! :)

Canon 7D, 16-35mm f/2.8L, 35mm f/1.4L

Michael “locked that in” :)

“Wanna go play?”

I think almost everyone has memories of childhood playmates — mostly good ones, some bad :/ but Sarah and Cameron’s experiences must have been amazing, as their time in kindergarten so many years ago laid the foundation for their friendship, later to become unrelenting best friends and lovers.

Meet Sarah

Meet Cameron

Sarah says that she snuck up on Cameron for a kiss in this very playground…

Apparently, Cameron can sneak a good one too :)

Here are some “frame within a frame” pictures inspired by Apertura, Angel, and so many others :)

They’re most comfortable when playing together I think…

…probably re-living some intimate moments together. Hopefully I provided a respite from the wedding prep stresses :)

I wonder if Cameron was always distracting Sarah in class?

Or was it the other way around? :D

Their gazes are incredibly fixating

Any Fireflies fans in the house recognize the balloons?

Since Cameron proposed to Sarah on the Dumbo ride at Disney World, Dan had the idea of spinning them around as they interacted, here are our two favorite shots:

The editing of the shot below was a deliberate decision of mine, another reference to Fireflies, but also how I sensed this moment to be. Sarah and Cameron have an electrifying love, and this is a small tribute to the friendship and artistic collaboration between Sarah and me. 

Just a little background blurb about how I met Sarah, and how this shoot is immensely important to me (do skip this if you get bored with sentimental words). I met Sarah for the first time when we were invited to teach a narrative filmmaking class for the USF Honors College together with Dan and Jesse Newman. Working together brought us closer together as friends, especially through some difficult situations we had to tackle when it came to pioneering the filmmaking culture at USF. We experimented with teaching, using the 5D for Rhapsody, animation, and two award-winning short film-making processes from the ground up. Needless to say, Sarah means a lot to me, and her and Cameron allowing me to shoot their engagement portraits has been an extreme pleasure and privilege for me! Cameron and Sarah, the both of you are amazing individually, but are such an exquisite collision when together! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your life :)

More Sarah and Cameron here :]

Technical Deets

Shtuff:
- Russell, our trusty Canon 5DMkII
- Canon 100mm f/2.8, Canon 24mm TSE f/3.5L, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

I regret that this blog post is very much overdue, due to school and graduation, and the such… Regardless, this couple’s love story only gets stronger and deeper with each passing second. 

Meet Simon.

Meet Darleen.

Simon says (haha) that he first laid his eyes on the beautiful Darleen 10 years ago at the bus stop where they would climb on the same magnet school bus to go to school day after day. 8.5 years later, he proposed to Darleen on that very bus stop. (cue card says,”awwwwww!”)

We re-created their proposal by a modern intersection in Downtown Tampa. Isn’t that ring gorgeous?! And yes, that is a Mystery Machine t-shirt :)

Making portraits for these two, now friends, of mine has been a wonderful experience. As they interacted with each other, their fun-loving personalities were balanced with moments of a quiet intimacy that can only be attributed to their closeness to each other:

Moreover, it is not a secret that Simon is a seasoned connoisseur when it comes to his Nike Dunks…red velvet, anyone?

It is a wonder that the “funny, clever, and passionate” in Simon would join forces with the “smart, friendly, and emotional” in Darleen. The chemistry between the two was apparent, yet mysterious at the same time. They complement each other with strength and gentleness. Very soon, she will be his eyes, and he will be hers…

Many, many THANKS to Adam Bettencourt for helping me juggle my lenses, and to Tiffany for maintaining Darleen’s hair, make-up, and wardrobe :)

More engagement portraits here

Technical Deets:

Locations
- Ybor City: The Bunker / Centro Ybor, and everywhere en route on foot
- Downtown Tampa: Curtis-Hixon Waterfront Park on Ashley Dr. /  E. Twiggs St.

Shtuff
- Russell, our Canon 5DmkII
- Canon: 50mm f/1.4, 100mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

Post
- Edited in Adobe Lightroom
- Collaged in Adobe Photoshop