For Olivia & Nick, both doctors in the DC area, a cherry blossom engagement session was a must. They didn’t even flinch when we recommended meeting at sunrise to avoid some of the pedestrian traffic, although come sunrise this past April, there was hardly a cherry blossom tree in the Tidal Basin that wasn’t offering shade to some photographer or his or her subjects. Cherry blossom season in DC always doubles as a small photographer’s reunion. 

This begs the question – how to capture something unique?

Follow your instincts. Follow that good light. Be true to your client. Be true to your own artistic vision. Focus on what you see through your viewfinder, not at what you’ve seen other people post on social media. 

Olivia & Nick have organic chemistry and they are such a pleasure to work with; we’re beyond thrilled to be able to photograph their wedding soon. 

Photographed 100% on Kodak Portra 400 film using a Contax 645. Developed and scanned on Frontier scanners by our friends at Richard Photo Lab. 

“Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made for the eye of the one who sees.” – Rumi

Let’s go back to before their engagement session:

Anna and David booked us to photograph their wedding before the world was halted by the 2020 COVID pandemic.

As we were rescheduling wedding after wedding, David reached out to us via phone. ‘Oh no, another wedding to reschedule,’ I thought, answering his call, wondering if we’d be approved eventually for a grant or loan to cover the losses we were incurring.

To paraphrase how that call went:

“Hi Michael, we just wanted to say we know you are dealing with a lot of people rescheduling, and although we need to reschedule, we want to do all we can to work out a payment plan that will keep you and Carina secure until we can celebrate in 2021.”

I was stunned. It was hard to keep it together on the phone. David confronted us with his selflessness, even as HE was going through rescheduling one of the most significant, important events of his life. It’s people like that make an impression, one that never leaves you. He’s rescheduling his wedding, and he was concerned about our well-being.

This pandemic has definitely brought out some of our better angels, and David and Anna’s beautiful, selfless hearts shone in their engagement photos. We met them on an afternoon in early October 2020, along with their mothers who had come along to set up the florals in a canoe. The setting sun just kissed this hilltop towards the end of their session, so we set them free from poses and they danced into the sunlight. It was glorious.

We are SO thankful to work with beautiful souls like theirs, and to work with the incredible planner & stylist Lisa Gaskarth of Eight Seven Events. Be well and treat each other with love, friends!

xoxo, Michael and Carina

Photographed on a Contax 645 with Fuji400h film and a Fuji X-Pro 3.

Film developed & scanned by our dear friends at Richard Photo Lab.

Sebastian & MacKenzie gathered with us by the white marble memorials and gardens of the capital of the United States, the National Mall. We watched the sunrise together as we photographed their engagement photos in Washington, DC., beneath the titanic pillars of the Lincoln Monument. This session reminded us not to doubt getting up early for engagement sessions in downtown DC. Totally worth it to chase light like this. 

 

Photographed entirely on Fuji 400h film with a Contax 645 camera. Developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab. 

Catherine and Leo invited us to their fall getaway in the Berkshires. Their anniversary session was alive with love and warmth.

In a season where the world enters its slumber, they celebrated life.

Photographed on Kodak Portra 800 & Ilford Delta 3200 film, developed by Richard Photo Lab.