Newhouse Couples Session
As a person with anxiety- which also happens to be about 10x worse in the car- when I enter a client’s address into Google Maps and I say “Oh! I know exactly where that is” I know it’s gonna be an extra good day. I know SOMEBODY out there with anxiety feels me on this.
I drove through my old neighborhood (well, MIKE drove), through familiar streets and landmarks, and pulled into the driveway of this insanely cute tall house with red siding and 2 pups greeting me with an enthusiastic tail wag from the backyard. I was so excited to get started already.
Chelsea told me that the two rooms she wanted to shoot in BOTH had six windows…that’s right…SIX, so I was already anxious-in-a-good-way to shoot in their home, but I walked in and the house was absolutely GLOWING. The entire shoot, I ran completely on a balance of envy and also somehow greed. I photographed them for an hour and I just wanted MORE.
click the arrow at each side of the photoset to look through
we started in the living room while miss Cora watched her favorite Disney movie in the background- fun fact: it was 101 Dalmatians and it’s also MY favorite Disney movie. Also Hercules. Anyway, as little Miss snacked on a wafer and fell under the spell of cinematic masterpiece- I couldn’t help but notice how well Chelsea and Garrett slipped into their own little world with each other as well, even without the most romantic of circumstances right away.
Truth be told, we can plan out a session all we want to- I’m likely gonna shoot a little longer than planned and in at least one surprise spot at our location. Especially in your own home. The kitchen was an impromptu stop on our way upstairs- I couldn’t deny the sweet pull of the high ceilings and one bright window highlighting a super comfy spot for my couple to make out on the counter, what can I say?
Music is a game changer, ya’ll. I’m not kidding. I used to just kinda retreat into my zone and hope for the best- but now, you can bet I’ve got a playlist made up specifically for each session. It’s a surefire way to fill the silence and set the mood. This is a fairly new thing for me, so I’m always so surprised at how quickly people loosen up when you put on the groovy tunes. We moved into Chelsea + Garrett’s gorgeous bedroom, put on a fire playlist and the real magic ensued…
I’m not sure if you know this, but the “trick” to relaxing during a photo shoot is to have fun. If you’re asking yourself “how?”- you can stop right there. A lot of people think that most of what I do is taking photos, and, I mean, that’s a lot of it, don’t get me wrong. But, there are no photos if I don’t create an atmosphere for you guys to be yourselves. Where you’re completely comfortable, open + having fun. You will, of course, receive a beautiful gallery full of images after a few weeks. But, really, it’s about the experience.
Queue feather pillow fight, queue the fun…
I was recently asked by an Instagram “know your photographer” filter what my favorite thing to photograph is- at first I had trouble answering, historically I’ve struggled with the idea of fitting myself into a box that way, a sort of fear of creative commitment. I think my answer would have been “ I don’t have a favorite” or “depends on the day” even just 2 years ago. But, now, I can say with certainty that I love to photograph couples most. I still love shooting whatever I’m shooting, but after couples sessions I’m just on cloud 9. Not sure if it’s the abundance of Disney movies or dramatic romance ballads by the artist formerly and currently known as Celine Dion that I’ve consumed in my 26 years- or what it could possibly be if not that… but, also, not too hard pressed to find out. I love love and that’s good enough reason for me.
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