Fucci's Photos of Boston–Something Blue Blog

A few weeks before Christmas I received an email from Cheryl, whom I had the pleasure of meeting  (and dancing with) back at Angela and Dave’s wedding. She wanted to do something special for her son Chris and his fiancé Patty to celebrate their engagement.  So we put together a gift certificate for an engagement shoot.  It was an unusual shoot for me as I usually have met my couples in advance at a consultation before I get to do a session with them.  But Patty and Chris were comfy in front of the camera right from the get go.  The two had such an electric connection between the two of them, it was next to impossible to get a bad shot of these two love birds.  I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by the spark between them, after all, Chris is an electrician. Chris was so incredibly romantic, tender and sweet with Patty, and you could see in Patty’s eyes how much she adores Chris.  I love in one of the shots on the stairs how she looks blissfully happy in his arms, even though it was about 30 degrees out and windy.

Patty choose Boston’s beautiful Esplanade and Longfellow Bridge for their shoot, as she takes that bridge to work every day and loves the view.  After our session…so do I!  What a fantastic location it was!  Clear shots of the Prudential Center and Hancock Tower, the beautiful Charles River below.  This is definitely one of my favorite locations to shoot in the city now.    We ended the shoot with a pinterest inspired shot.  Patty had an ampersand symbol with her so that they could do a Mr. & Mrs. shot.  They braved the cold and switched to shirts with the Anastasi Electric Corporation logo on them.  Patty is so excited to get to be his partner in life, as well as in Chris’ business, she wanted to make sure they had a shot of the two of them in the new company shirts.  I loved it!

Shoot notes:

• Patty wore a lovely brand new white coat for the shoot.  You’ll notice though in some of the shots we are sitting down.  To ensure my clients’ clothes stay clean for the entirety of the shoot I wear a washable lightweight scarf that when I take it off can double as a barrier between their clothes and the things I have them sitting on or leaning up against.  After the shoot is done the scarf goes into the wash, and comes out like new ready for its next adventure in the city.
• On the day of the shoot it was very windy.  Luckily Patty had remembered to bring a headband with her.  I try to remind all my clients to have a hairband on hand for their engagement session.  I always have a hair tie on my wrist just in case, but a pretty headband photographs much better than a wind-swept pony tail.
• Patty also had her nails done.  This is a great idea for your engagement shoot. Your photographer will likely want to prominently display your beautiful engagement ring in several shots.  Having your nails done will eliminate any worries you might have of your hands not looking their best.  For color choices, I usually suggest a traditional french manicure, or classic colors so that later on the photos won’t look too dated when say the neon trend is back out of fashion.
• Some of my clients end up getting poses named after them.  Angela came up with a trick on the fly during their engagement shoot that I use almost every time.  To mimic the look of a piggy back ride without the guy nearly being choked in the process have the girl stand on a bench just behind him, and then place her arms around his neck.  The key is to get their eyes in the same plane of focus, so the girl has to come forward over the guy’s shoulders.  So I tend to call that set up the “Angela”.  During Chris and Patty’s shoot, Patty made the fabulous suggestion of showing off her ring by placing her hands lovingly on Chris’ face.  It was perfection!  So Patty, you can be proud to know you’ve joined the ranks with Angela,  you now have your very own pose named after you.