Remember last week's throwback featuring images from Stone Mountain Park? That little session was the main reason I decided that my engagement pictures should be taken there. I assumed that if Justin and I could take some decent, fun shots around the park by ourselves, how much better would it be to do that with a photographer?
I must admit I wasn't in love with my engagement session images. I thought the photographer could have been better prepared with location ideas and cues on how to sit/stand to get awesome shots, but I think our photographer was pretty new to the game. Given how difficult photography is as a profession, I can completely identify with why it would be difficult to pose couples and still get a bit of legitimacy out of the session as well. I also understand why getting color correct in post processing would be difficult. Given what she was charging, I think Kelly L did a fantastic job and was as creative as she could be. I imagine in the years since she has probably grown and developed her skills, as I have. She now shoots in South Carolina.
This is one of my favorite images from the session. I had given up on trying to look good for the camera. I was tired and hot. Justin refused to look at the camera, so the majority of the images taken were him looking at me and me looking at the camera. Awkward. I'm not really sure how this image came together, and I really, really wish I could color correct it. But other than that, I love the way we seem to be interacting … and, let's be honest, I love how skinny I look. This dress, my very first expensive Nordstrom dress, can make anyone look good. I swear. :)
I am so glad that I got those heels before this shoot. A-dor-able. But why didn't the photographer ask me to raise my chin a bit? Or lower my shoulder? Some things I will never know.
Before I leave this post, I did want to share that Justin made the pink dress for me for the engagement shoot. It's not as flattering as I had imagined (I wanted one styled similarly to the blue one seen above), but it's a fun dress all the same. I decided on pink flowers rather than purple, because of our cherry blossom wedding theme. Isn't that clever/creative? :) To be even more cute, I wore a pink anklet, that I had originally worn to Justin's and my first unofficial "friend date" at prom a number of years before, to this session. Unfortunately, it never came home with me. Sadness, right? :(
As I look back, despite the fact that there are numerous fun and unique places to take pictures in and around the Atlanta area, I am grateful and happy that we chose to take our engagement pictures at Stone Mountain. It is a place that has a lot of memories and meaning to us, and it can be a lot of fun to roam around when it's not 90+ degrees outside. (Even then, the trees produce an immense amount of shade.)
Have you ever been to Georgia to visit our infamous "mountain" of stone? If you are engaged or married, how did you decide on where to have photos taken? Did you include any special aspects that others may or may not pick up on when they look at your photos?
