Last week I got a Facebook message that made me squeal… yes SQUEAL with delight.  A young man I am acquainted with from my church was asking me to to covertly capture photos of him proposing to his long time girlfriend Maria.  My answer… ABSOLUTELY! I would LOVE to!  Jesse, the gentleman preparing to propose, later confessed to me he thought I might be even more excited than he was.  I’m not sure that is possible, but he might have been close.

So that is how I found myself on a Friday night, out in the cold dark and wet night, hugging a tree and trying to make myself as invisible as possible.  I admit I didn’t feel the cold at all, too much adrenalin I guess.  I was grinning ear to ear the entire time… especially when she started squealing and jumping up in down with happiness.  What a moment!

What an experience! I was truly nervous!  This guy was trusting ME to capture one of the biggest moments of his life.  To say it was a challenge is an understatement.  This might have been the most DIFFICULT shoot of my life. It isn’t easy to hide behind a tree and take photos of two moving people, in the dark no less.  Camera’s are not fond of focusing in the dark.  They either don’t focus at all or they focus on the wrong thing.  I did the best I could and I definitely got some keepers.    I cannot WAIT to share!

I pray to God these two are happy with what I created.  As crazy as it sounds… I probably won’t sleep much until I KNOW they are happy with what I got.  But that’s just me… ever the perfectionist worry wort.  Ah well… I don’t think I’ll ever change.

Congratulations Jesse and Maria!  Thank you so much for trusting me with your big moment!

My vantage point as I awaited the big moment.

I’m sitting here at my keyboard fingers poised over the keys trying to find just the right words to use to introduce you all to Michelle and Thomas. Truth be told, the words are failing me. Typically I tell the story of how they met and fell and love or how he proposed.  I do plan to get to all of that.  I already know I’m going to fall down flat trying to describe just how awesome, sweet, and crazy these two are.  I am just so excited that they chose Crystal Starr as their CT Wedding Photographer.

Maybe this photo will help begin the story.

Needless to say, they had me rolling in laughter during their entire engagement session.  My cheeks seriously hurt from all of the grinning I did.

Michelle and Tom have been together for ten years! Yes, that’s right! That means they met back in high school at Band Camp!  If that alone isn’t enough fodder for laughs I don’t know what is.  These two play it up like pros.  And just for the record, she approached him.  Go Michelle!

Apparently their school days were very good to them as they each now work in the school system.  Michelle is a special education teacher and she teaches the color guard, Tom directs the band.

In fact, we had to post pone our original meeting because…. it was band camp week.  Apparently they just can’t get away from that stuff. 

I am very much looking forward their wedding next year.  Something tells me that it’ll be so much fun that their friends and family (and myself) will still be raving about it 10 years later.

To see more of Michelle and Tom’s engagement session please click the slideshow below. To make sure you don’t miss any of Tom and Michelle’s wedding hop on over to Crystal Starr’s Facebook and hit the like button.

Once in a while I am privileged enough to work with a couple that seems totally at ease in front of the camera. Being photographed isn’t easy. It can feel incredibly awkward. To make matters worse I tend to ask my clients to do things that make them feel ridiculous. Let me let you in on a little secret. I’m not necessarily looking to capture that ridiculous thing I just asked you to, I’m looking to capture the way your body moves as you put yourself into my ridiculousness as well as your reaction to it. If things go just as I plan, the results can be amazing. Suddenly we have fun, spontaneous, and relaxed expressions. Vera and Olsi seemed made for this. I’d say their session was a home run!

Vera and Olsi will be getting married at the end of this month. They are one of my LaViera couples. I shoot weddings and portrait session with a photography company called LaViera photography. I count myself blessed to be an associate photographer with this company.

Olsi is a military man, her serves in the Army. Vera is a nurse. The two are from Albania although they met in Philadelphia.

Olsi is an impressive and traditional gentleman who asked his future father-in-law for Vera’s hand in marriage before he proposed to her.

When the time came for him to pop the question Olsi decided to ask Vera to go out after she was through with work. Unfortunately being the ever practical girl that she is she declined as she wanted to just stay home and save their money.

Olsi reverted to plan B and planned a romantic evening at home. By the time Vera arrived she was on to his plan. What she found was an unlocked door and her man awaiting her arrival. He lowered to one knee and displayed her ring inside of a rose as he asked her to be his bride.

Let me tell you about Jen and Jer.  (Sorry for the shortened names, it is who they are to me!)  I met Jeremy in 2004 when my husband and I began attending Hillside Community Church.  Jeremy stood out to me almost immediately.  He was also a relative new comer to the church and his personality, enthusiasm, and sense of humor could not to be missed.  I was fortunate to find myself in a Bible Study with Jeremy.  His constant antics and hilarious take on life left me aching from laughter each week.

Over the years since I’ve come to know Jeremy as a man of God, of integrity, and of dedication.  He is fiercely loyal to his friends, his church, and his God.  I’ve watched in awe as God worked wonders through Jeremy using his talents in his multiple ministries.  Even during difficult times in his life I’ve always been impressed with how he worked through them and clung to his beliefs.

It wasn’t all that long ago that a new face appeared at Hillside alongside Jeremy.  From our first introduction I knew I’d like Jennifer.  It turns out she and I have lot in common.  Unbeknown-st to me we attended the same university, carried the same major, and traveled similar career paths. Well, until I veered off into photography!

I asked Jen and Jer to share with me how they met and the details of their first date.  It turns out it was an online dating service that brought the two together.  I LOVE that!  I’ve had more than a couple of friends hook up that way!  It appears that the world wide web almost derailed the two would be love birds when the chat system failed and poor Jeremy thought he offended Jen with a joke about the Red Sox and the Yankees.  Finally the two managed to get their wires uncrossed and they headed out for a real date.  And where did Jeremy take his new found interest?  To WORK!  Jeremy is a restaurant manager and he took her to the same restaurant chain he works for.  Ok, to be fair, they didn’t go to HIS restaurant.  But I still couldn’t help but find the situation so… Jeremy!

Well I am beyond thrilled and totally honored that they chose me to photograph their upcoming wedding.  I know it’ll be fabulous.  One thing is for certain, it is going to be a BLAST!  In the meantime, as we await the big day, I thought I’d share with you some favorites from their engagement session.  Enjoy!