I know, I know. I promised this sneak peek would be up by Friday, but the wee one got sick last week, so I am running a couple of days behind.
Shelli and Chris are getting married in Colorado this October, but wanted to have their engagement portraits taken in New York City, where they are currently living. I thought it was a fantastic idea and couldn’t wait for my first visit to NYC!
Made of Honor, even though it was a pretty stupid movie, was a great inspiration for our shoot. I just loved the bridge in Central Park that they featured (pretty much every movie based in New York eventually has a romantic scene on this bridge), so we began our early morning there!
You could very easily spend a week shooting in just Central Park. Which was pretty much the theme of our day. There were a zillion shots and backgrounds to use in New York, and it was so hard to leave thinking about all the ones we skipped!
When we came to this section of the park I tried very hard not to panic. This is the area of Central Park that they used for the opening scene of The Happening. A movie that has given me an unhealthy and probably life-long fear of plants.
Shelli and Chris were so easy to photograph. They knew just how to hold a pose indefinitely while I tried different angles and lenses!
On our way out of the park I saw a man leaning on this bridge and loved how it looked. So Shelli and Chris watched the ice skaters for a little bit…
So many of the photos remind me of the old Mad About You opening sequences. This is definitely one of them:
They fed me so well while I was there. I got to see some crazy small restaurants and it was fun to have to see places that tourists wouldn’t normally get to! This is one of their favorite places to eat:
We walked along 5th Avenue (we stopped at the Disney Store and I got Will some rad presents). Here’s a “peeking in the store window” shot…
Shelli loves the shots we’ve done at cafes, so we sought out a little coffee shop for through-the-window pictures.
Shelli is our second bride to have a custom ring from Etsy, which I think is so cool!
Their dog, Lily, did a good job on selling me on the idea that the Turchin family does eventually need a dog. I’m pretty sure if they had been selling dogs at the airport, I would have picked one up on my way home. She is so sweet, thought my suitcase was the most amazing smelling thing she’d ever encountered, and licked my face while I was sleeping. I think that means we’re BFFs now.
I’ve known for months that I wanted to do some shots at a flower shop. This one is only a few doors down from their apartment. I have a bunch of shots from this spot that are romantic and lovely…but this one is awesome because Chris is laughing because I was both holding Lily’s leash and trying to take pictures at the same time. Lily was definitely winning in her attempts to run me down the street…so much so that after a minute or two a couple of strangers walked over and offered to hold her leash for a minute while I took some shots!
Before taking a well earned break (I wish I had a behind-the-scenes shot of us all completely passed out in the living room–Chris still with a newspaper in his lap, me still with iPhone in hand!) they squeezed through their window onto the fire escape.
I adore Shelli’s expression here!
After warming up and enjoying a nap, we headed to Times Square. The shot I shared earlier this week was probably my favorite, but here are a few more!
Remember how I said it was 18 degrees and very windy on top of that? Check out how brave Shelli is…
One of the coolest parts of seeing New York in December were the sidewalk Christmas tree vendors. I felt like every time I saw something cool it immediately reminded me of a movie. In this case, When Harry Met Sally. What was strange to me was how big some of the trees were! I want to know how people are supposed to fit them into their little apartments!
Chris and Shelli, thanks for an amazing weekend and for being such gracious hosts! I loved getting to know you better and can’t wait to see you again at the wedding!
***
Shelli had mentioned in one of our many emails that she was bummed that Nic wouldn’t be there to catch any behind-the-scenes shots. So I found a way to get one in for her. :)
And a scene that cracked me up. While we got set up to shoot our first pose in Central Park, I saw a lab come out of nowhere and run into the river. He started swimming with a flock of ducks with no hint of returning to land until his owner arrived and yelled back for him.
