Eryn & Jordan
Colt State Park, Bristol, Rhode Island
September 26th, 2025
One of the big reasons I like doing engagement sessions with the couples who book me to photograph their wedding is that I have already talked to them either in person, online through Zoom (or both) and, afterward, the session will prove invaluable in making their wedding day photos super easy.
But every once in a while, I have a couple reach out to me who ONLY want an engagement session and that's always a special challenge as I am meeting them for the first, and only, time during the session and getting them comfortable in front of the camera can prove rather difficult in our short time together.
That's why I'm always delighted when I can bring out the true personalities of a couple like Eryn and Jordan immediately upon meeting them. Admittedly, it didn't take much for this couple to act like themselves as we made our way around Colt State Park but, by the end of our two hours together, it felt like I knew them pretty well and I was bummed they're getting married out of state on a date I'm already booked and if that's not the purest sign of a session well done, I don't know what is.
If there was ever a place to shoot an engagement session for a couple you're meeting for the first time, Colt State Park is it. I know this location like the back of my hand and not just because I got married there in 2010.
Colt State Park is a beautiful spot for engagement photos and almost from the moment Eryn, Jordan and I met up, the hardest part was picking the placed we'd stop at before we ran out of daylight.
We started in one of my favorite places to begin: A small back road near the entrance of the park. And I could tell just from the first few photos that this would a great day.
I was right.
Eryn and Jordan were so super easy to direct that it felt like they were pros and that's why I knew we'd be able to hit a ton of spots in the park with ease because they wouldn't need much time to listen to direction.
That was especially helpful early on when I took them near the Temple to Music backroad area and we had to photograph several poses in between groups of walkers, runners and bicyclists passing by on this beautiful fall afternoon.
One of the other reasons I love Colt State Park is the variety you can get in a short time.
I asked Eryn and Jordan to switch into their second of three planned outfits midway through our session and timed it so that we would arrive at the iconic bridge in the park as the sun was slowly coming down.
This is a key move to make because anyone who has been to Colt State Park knows a sunny day on that bridge is brutal to try to work with photo wise. But, to their credit, Eryn and Jordan never seemed to mind the bright sun and the photos of the water behind them with a sky that was just starting to give us color were some of my favorite on the entire day.
I have to be honest. The order of locations I took Eryn and Jordan on during their shoot at Colt State Park was one I've done countless times but it's with good reason. If you time it right, Colt State Park is one of the most beautiful spots in New England for a proper sunset and that was certainly the case on this day.
Eryn, Jordan and I made our way over to the final locations just as sunset was beginning and after a quick couple of photos with a cute “watermelon” outfit the pair had, the soon-to-be newlyweds swapped into their final outfits just as the sun was showing its full and most beautiful form.
Eryn, Jordan and I capped their shoot with some true sunset photos and if I had to choose a favorite, it would definitely be the dip photo above as I think it's the perfect cap to a shoot well done.
As we walked back from the Colt State Park fishing pier, we made it to our car just as the last bit of useable light faded away and I couldn't help but smiling thinking how perfect this session really was.
So thank you Eryn and Jordan for one of my favorite engagement sessions of 2025 and I wish you all the best as you prepare for the final months before your special day in 2026. :)
-Paul J. Spetrini
