Sarah & Anthony
Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island
June 9th, 2018
As a wedding photographer, I have a fairly specific reason why I shoot engagement sessions. While, yes, it's true that I do it as a service to my clients to give them some nice photographs for their wedding for Save The Date or guestbook purposes, the real reason is I want to work with and get to know a future bride and groom before their big day to make shooting THAT event much easier.
Because of this, I'm always nervous when I'm shooting an engagement session just a few months before a couple's nuptials, as I was back in June when I photographed Sarah and Anthony's engagement session at Roger Williams Park in Providence. What if they don't like working with me? What if they're not comfortable in front of a camera? What if they're not really nice people and our connection is just off?
Thankfully, none of these questions mattered after roughly 90 seconds with Sarah and Anthony as they were an incredible pair to work with. And I knew just three photos in that we were in for a special day and I was right.
Sarah and Anthony's engagement session is easily one of my favorite this year and if they're wedding is anything like it, I have no doubt that will be a day both the bride, the groom AND the photographer cherish for a long time.
My time with Sarah and Anthony began at one of my low-key favorite places to shoot at Roger Williams Park: The parking lot of the carousel. While that doesn't sound like it would be a great place to photograph, I love the way the hills slant going into the area and it's a beautiful place to begin a session at the park because there are so many unique ways you can shoot a bride and groom depending on the time of year.
From there, we made our way to a more "traditional" spot in the park as the Iron Footbridge and outside the Casino are two of the most iconic places for couples to go to showcase their relationship together in a photo shoot.
My one complaint during engagement sessions at Roger Williams Park is it never seems like I have enough time to hit all the best places in this gigantic park but, thankfully, Sarah and Anthony were game to shoot for as long as I wanted to and we managed to check all of our desired locations off the list.
After a quick outfit change, the three of us were off to the Japanese Gardens and the Temple of Music, two locations where I could have (and in the past have) shot full engagement sessions in just that spot.
Roger Williams Park is one special place for a bride and groom and a true gem in Rhode Island's capital city.
While Sarah and Anthony's engagement sessions wasn't perfect per se (Sarah tried and failed miserably to take some glitter photos -- which had all three of us laughing hysterically), it was everything I hoped it would be and more for this bride and groom.
Sarah and Anthony will be getting married in October and if I wasn't excited to work with them before (I was), I definitely am now as they're easily one of the coolest couples I've met and I have no doubt will have a wedding to remember this fall.
So thanks for the good times Sarah and Anthony. See you when the leaves turn!
-PJS
Tags: Roger Williams Park, Roger Williams Park Engagement Photos, Rhode Island Engagement Sessions, Providence, Paul J. Spetrini Photography