Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island
September 22nd, 2025
When you're shooting an engagement session, you can have the most beautiful weather in the world, in the most scenic looking location in your area, and it doesn't mean a thing if you can't get your clients to trust you when posing them and make things feel natural.
This is why I start every engagement session I shoot by being honest with the people I'm working with. No matter what we do, the first 15 minutes are most likely going to be awkward for everyone involved and it will take a while until you feel comfortable enough to be yourself in front of the camera.
I think that's what I loved the most about working with Chris and Abby on the afternoon of their September engagement session at Roger Williams Park. Though we started their session as strangers meeting in person for the first time, by the time we wrapped their photos, they felt like folks I'd known for years and the photos reflected that, going from rigid and slightly awkward to super fun, carefree and relaxed by the end.
And if that's a sign of how their early 2026 wedding will play out, the best is yet to come.
My time with Chris and Abby started in the same spot I like to shoot most, if not all, my engagement sessions at Roger Williams Park: A little corner of foliage near the Carousel parking lot. This spot serves me well because, typically, it's got nice foliage and, more importantly, it's a good no-risk location to break the ice and get my couples in a rhythm.
I could tell early on Chris and Abby didn't have a ton of experience taking photos together but they had such a natural affection for one another and took directions well so I didn't mind. And, as I showed them photos on my camera, I could see them understanding the vision a little more as we went along and see them warming up.
One of the reasons I like to start my Roger Williams Park sessions where I do is it gives me a chance to take couples to the park's Japanese Gardens, which are always a hugely popular location and practically a must-visit.
On this particular day, which felt closer to a summer afternoon than a fall one, the sun was shining bright and made a lot of spots in the Japanese Gardens tough to work with so I opted with focusing primarily on the couple itself, rather than just leaning on the location and I found that Chris and Abby were at their most natural when they had stuff to do, be it walking or hugging one another.
I especially loved the photos we took of the soon-to-be newlyweds on a small rock bench in the gardens. It's one of my favorite spots in the park for good reason, ya know.
As much as I loved the light, summer-like clothing Chris and Abby chose for their first outfit in the beginning of the session, the darker fall-like clothes they switched into at the halfway point of our time together was definitely my favorite.
And nowhere did it look better than in our final stop on their photo session: The Iron Footbridge.
I always love coming to the Iron Footbridge at Roger Williams Park because it has some of the best foliage in the park and is the most flexible location to work at and both of these were true on this day.
One of the other reasons I loved this particular time of Chris and Abby's session was the pair were fully relaxed and actually laughing along as we decided to get a bit more creative and lean into the fun parts of engagement photo posing.
I especially loved watching these two try to dance a bit on a narrow bridge and I think the laughs they made were the perfect cap to our time together.
As Chris, Abby and I headed back to our cars, I couldn't help but think their engagement photo session was one of my favorites of the year thus far and now, some four months later as I finally catch up on writing this blog, I can say it definitely was.
Chris and Abby may have taken a little bit of time to warm up to being in front of the camera but by the end they were natural pros and I know this session will make their upcoming wedding even better. :)
roger-williams-park-engagement-photos-092225
