Ebony and Douglas

Last week, I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful engaged couple. While that in and of itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, this session was different. Don’t get me wrong, ALL of my sessions are special and hold a place in my heart. This one, however, was extra special. It’s not every day that I get to share in an engagement session where the subjects are close friends, so I was super pumped AND a bit nervous. You see, the soon to be bride, Ebony, is a long-time friend that I met on the campus of The University of Kentucky as an undergrad (think baggie Cross Color shorts and one strap over the shoulder overalls LOL). Yep, the 90’s were a great time, but I digress.

Ebony, a therapist, and Douglas, a supervisor for a large healthcare organization, met through an online dating site. She viewed his profile, but didn’t say anything to him. So, he responded to her “click-by,” and the conversation (knowing them, I’d say banter) was great from that point on. The two chatted for awhile, then decided to meet in person. The brave Douglas agreed to meet Ebony sight unseen (CRAZY, RIGHT)!?! Before meeting, she asked if he wanted to see a photo of her to which he (surprisingly might I add) said no. After meeting over ice cream and both being pleasantly surprised and relieved, she asked him what he would have done if she looked like (we won’t go into details here, but let’s just say unappealing). He said that they would have had a good discussion about platonic friendship.

Leading up to their engagement session, the weather consistently called for thunderstorms on their day. Every day that week I checked the forecast and nothing changed. Storms. Bad ones. I typically remain calm for the sake of my brides and assure them that the weather forecast often changes and I’m sure it will be okay. But this time I was a little skeptical. I had no place for the session if the storms rolled in, so I needed good weather. My go-to indoor places were closing early and I had nothing. So I went to God and begged him to just give us a good hour of no rain.

WONT HE DO IT!

Not only did God literally lift the rain clouds (it rained on my way to the session), He brought the sun out (which isn’t the best for photographs, but it was better than rain so no complaints here). SO, we chased the good shade until the sun lowered enough for that perfect blend of light and glow.

Regardless of what the sky was doing though, everyone’s attention (mine and several passers-by as well) was drawn to this couple, who showed up dressed to the nines. Ebony was gorgeous in her blue floral dress, heels, flawless hair and makeup and Douglas was dapper in his coordinating ensemble. They make one sharp couple. And not only do they look good, they are fun. The session was filled with sweet nothings and looks between the two of them and many comical exchanges between the three of us.

If you know anything about my photography, one pose that I love is one in which the lady looks over her shoulder in a sultry manner, then slowly brings her eyes up to the camera. Well, after a few times of me photographing Ebony this way, Douglas wanted a chance to see if he could master the over the shoulder look. So, trying to hold the camera still while laughing, I obliged. I think he did pretty good. What do you think? Let him know how he did in the comments.

Ebony and Douglas, it was an absolute honor to photograph you guys. I can’t wait to do it all again in a few months on your wedding day! Just know these two things. 1. I am still cracking up over Douglas’ modeling debut, and

2. The over the shoulder will NEVER be the same!