Last week I had a chance to meet up with Nicole and Chris for their engagement pics! We decided to shoot up and around the grounds of the Hall of Springs since their wedding will be there next October. So will we! In fact, their wedding is my birthday too! October 12, 2012 should be a blast! Back to their engagement session.. I was so happy when I arrived up in Saratoga and it was a beautiful evening. I mean we’re really getting lucky with these November days!! Plus if you looked hard you might find little bursts of color here and there too! The session was great as these two are so easy to photograph. All they do is smile and laugh. I enjoyed capturing your e shoot and I can’t wait to spend 10.12.12 in the same place with you guys! Until then, keep smiling!

Peace,
JP

Meet Nicole and Chris..

The light and the color was nice here..

especially from this angle

Classic fall stuff right here..

I really love everything about this one right here..

a nice little series.

I liked this spot too..

Ah a nice Elario configuration.. (they admit they practiced)

boom!

One of Nicole while Chris was still chaining.. Looking good fresh out the chair of Make Me Fabulous!

I hadn’t shot inside SPAC since 2008 so I figured why not?

This is one of my new favorite spots outside the Hall of Springs..

Ok.. one more configuration..

cute..

sweet backlight..

and of course my token “bling shot”

and the turnaround!

I’m amazed on how late the foliage has stuck around this year. When Brian contacted me about shooting his and Christina’s engagement session I thought that the color would be gone. Boy was I wrong! It must have something to do with all that whacky weather we’ve had this year. When planning this session Brian reached out to me and I had to say I wasn’t available due to a super busy October. Boy he was persistent! They were only in town for a short while and tried so many ways to get me to shoot this. I even got a message from a mutual friend on facebook to see if I can find an open spot. Brian and Christina, you owe Peter a drink! Anyway after Peter’s email, I had October 31st open so that ended up being the day! Thank god it was nice out because I really didn’t have any other open spots! If it was going to rain, I would have shot this in the rain. I must say I had a great time photographing these two. It’s a damn shame I won’t be shooting their California wedding next July :( but at least I was able to capture these for them! If you guys change you date let me know ;) Seriously, thank you both for choosing me for this session. Congrats on the bling and upcoming nuptials next summer!!

Peace,
JP

Meet Christina and Brian..

The color was awesome!

I still can’t get over the color in late October!

When I pulled into Washington Park and saw this floor of yellow I knew this would be a great spot..

so we hangout there for a little bit..

I like this one..

The Elario configuration looking good!

Christina’s hair and makeup looking NICE by Polina

I liked this spot too..

and this one…

Ok one more in the classic Washington Park path… ps.. Can the city of Albany loose the bright blue trash cans?

Outfit #2… can’t go wrong in red..

Albany is full of AWESOME spots.. here’s a new one for you..

So pretty..

That red dress screams!

My favorite from the whole session..

I love this one too.. I’ve been shooting at this spot for many years, I just love this vantage point..

ok.. I’m jealous I’m not shooting your wedding :(

Another classic Albany location..

we’ll end with my token “bling shot”

Ok one more bling shot because this one makes me laugh.

and of course the turnaround.. Thanks again and congrats to you both!!

Oh boy! Let’s all take our seats. I got a little crazy selecting images for Marisa and Chris’ blog post! There was just a lot of photogenic goodness happening on November 4th 2011. I must say I’ve been looking forward to getting these two back in front of the camera since they smoked it on their engagement session this past summer. I know you remember that! It was only one of my top posts this year in terms of views and comments oh and the shoot was the bomb! Let’s see how that wedding was..

The day started on a super high! It was chilly but it was sunny and I was ready to knock this one out the park. I had no worries on timelines or none of that stuff because Christine Wheat was on the scene. I have to tell you brides and grooms, its much easier when we don’t have to play wedding planner for the day and can just do our creative thang! You all should have coordination! Its worth it and I’ll bet my 200mm 1.8L every couple who has hired a wedding coordinator would agree its money well spent! Ok I’m done. Getting back to the day, Marisa and her girls had the tunes bumping in suite 627 in the Hampton Inn. I looked at Big Joe before I knocked on the door and said “do I hear bass? like actual bass bumping?”. Word, there was no hotel alarm clock but a Bose sound dock (I meant for that to rhyme! Actually I really didn’t). The tunes made for some great getting ready music and the energy was there! Down the hall in 620 was Chris and the fella’s because of his proximity to Marisa we were able to bounce back and forth to both rooms. After Marisa was dressed Big Joe and I headed to Congress Park to meet up with their surprise videographer non other than Al Woodard. Al dubs was a gift for Marisa and Chris at their bridal shower, seriously he popped out the box and all! Nah I’m playing! Chris and the guys were in the park as well. Then the star of the show arrived for her first look! It was wonderful. After fighting off the hungry ducks, who should migrate already (do ducks migrate?) we breezed thru the group photos and had mad time with our bride and groom. The park had a lot of color still hanging around and that was kind of surprising for early November but I’ll take it! After we knocked it out the Congress Park with Marisa and Chris it was off to St Mary’s in Ballston Spa for their ceremony. Then back at the Canfield Casino the staff from Mansion Catering was ready and waiting for the arrival of the newlyweds. The decor was popping thanks to Jolene K Design. The New York Players were in the house as well which means you know its going to be a jump off! Last but not least was the Elario Photo Booth which was a late addition by Marisa and Chris! I’m sure they’re super happy that they have an additional 670 images of their friends and family living it up! Thanks to Hayden for holding it DOWN and capturing all the funny people!

Marisa and Chris, I can’t thank you both enough for trusting us at Elario Photography Inc. I had truly had a wonderful time getting to know you over the past year. The engagement session was off the chain. You’re both off the chain and awesome people. That ish cray! TM! Lock it down and keep smiling at each other. Mad love.

Peace,
JP

Before you jump into the wedding post be sure to peep their engagement session because its one of my favorites and the location is sick!

ok lets set it off with some details..

digging the heels!

Peacock what? Word. Minutes before I took this shot Marisa thought she was only getting one wedding ring but Chris surprised her with another. Why not?

Marisa’s hair was done by her cousin and bridesmaid Amber from Karizma in Schenectady.

The makeup by Kelsey from Panache in Clifton Park.

meanwhile over in suite 620..

All the bridesmaids and Mom enjoying a laugh..

She’s so pretty but we’ll get back to her in a minute..

I like the suits and ties fellas.. nice touch.

fun

Looking good, Chris.

When I was in this position at my first look all I could think was “I wonder what the dress looks like?”

stunning!

A fun little series from their first look.

It was colder than it looks.. thanks to everyone for being awesome and hanging outside!

Some pretty flowers by Jolene K Design

The beautiful ladies..

working it..

Marisa is a master at the lookaway

One more..

I’ll remind you this is the girl who claims she doesn’t take a good picture…. whatever!

one more ;)

Yellow is my favorite color!

seriously the color for November was popping!

I put this one in because its a typical Marisa smirk..

A little Elario configuration..

Nice light, check. Awesome color, check.

love it.

What are the odds we get the same car two weeks in a row considering the owner was a guest at both weddings? Thanks Nick!

hotness.

Again, the color was freaking awesome.

My facebook teaser.. loving it..

One more of our beautiful bride.

Loving these b&ws…

whats so funny?

Ok one more. I think I was stressing out Christine Wheat’s girl Erin here because she was like “we have to get to the church” but I couldn’t stop shooting!!

Sy Mary’s Ballston Spa..

Chris, on deck.

Marisa and Dad, on deck..

Instead of showing their first kiss I thought the moment just after was more interesting to me.. I just like it.

Mr & Mrs…

Back at the Canfield Casino.. I grabbed one on their way in..

Cocktail hour..

The ballroom..

Loving the peacock feathers..

Their entrance was great!

I love when during the first dance all the guests are standing around watching…

Cheers!

The New York Players were on level 10 all night long!

The lookaway… I was happy to see this backdrop gypsy out again. I think its awesome!

Ladies..

hahaha

What a cute couple.. they were having a blast in their pics..

Blog stalkers!

Just about to rock the limbo..

Who could forget the star of the photo booth?

But these two were definitely prom king and queen of the Elario Photo Booth! BOOM! That ish cray! Congrats you two!!!!!!!!

As I mentioned in Tanya & Dylan’s blog post we shot a behind the scenes video. Mad props to my boy Jason Valentine for putting this together. Stay tuned and check back for the full piece in the days ahead! For now enjoy this teaser..

Peace,
JP