Kim and John met working at a restaurant together when they both lived in Albany. They were apart for a while when John moved to the NYC but of course the call of the city (and perhaps John?) brought Kim to Manhattan shortly thereafter. We met them on a bright and sunny day in NYC for session in Central Park. We love shooting in Central Park because no matter how many times we shoot there it never gets old. There are so many pretty spots then you add in some pretty light and BOOM! you have one amazing engagement session. It didn’t hurt that despite the fact that Albany had already lost all its leaves many weeks before, New York City was still awash in beautiful fall colors.

Once we were done in Central Park we took a cab to Times Square. I am not sure how but even on a Wednesday night in November it was really busy. NYC always manages to live up to its reputation as the city that never sleeps. After a quick outfit change we headed out to brave the cold and get some cute night shots in the center of Times Square. It was a little crowded and crazy but I think the pictures were so worth it.

We hope you are enjoying the last of the 2011 sessions. Check back next year for pictures of Kim and John’s beautiful wedding at Canfield Casino. Canfield is definitely one of our favorite locations in Saratoga Springs and we are so excited to be a part of their wedding day!

Yeah, we had killer awesome light the whole day. Loved it!

The cute couple didn’t hurt things either!

John obviously makes Kim really happy, and we LOVED capturing that.

Gonna get a little dark and moody on this one. I love spots like this in Central Park.

This one is my favorite, and lisa’s favorite too!

Golden awesomeness.

All the leaved had changed, but most hadn’t fallen off yet. Absolute perfection.

This next one was our Facebook teaser. Make sure you like our page if you haven’t already so you can be the first to see their wedding pics! This is the famous Mall in central park. It’s ALWAYS swarming with people. Isn’t it amazing to see it empty? Wonder how we did it? Well, I’m not saying we jumped over any barriers or gates to get this shot, because that would be wrong…

Off to our favorite little spot in Times Square to finish off the night.

So romantic…

Gotta show off the bling to finish it off with our signature shot.

We hope everyone enjoyed these and that you’re all as excited as we are for their Canfield Casino wedding next year! This will also be the last new stuff you’ll see on the blog till after the holidays, so we wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays!

We are about to bring you some hotness on a cold December evening. We’re really excited to show you Liz and Scott’s engagement session tonight!  These two were troopers in the bitter November cold (even though Lisa had to borrow Scott’s gloves) especially since their initial engagement session was cancelled because of the freak October blizzard. Gotta love Albany sometimes. I think you will agree the pictures were definitely worth braving the cold. We have to give extra props to Scott (the groom, as I’m not talking about myself in the third person here ) because he had been up since 4 A.M. for work.

Liz and Scott met at the St. Patrick’s day parade in Albany and have spent almost every day together since then. It was only natural that they would consider getting engaged but they had a ten year plan. So, of course, Liz was completely surprised when one day at the waterfall in Thacher Park,  Scott got on one knee and proposed. I think we can all guess what her answer was! Naturally, when it came time for their engagement session we had to go back to the place where it all began!

Obviously, since it is a Scott Kretschmann Photography engagement session, there is a gorgeous couple, some pretty light, sprinkle in a little bit of Lipstick n’ Lashes magic and BOOM! One engagement session served up hot (on a very cold day). We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed taking them and keep checking back for more to come! Also don’t forget to show your favorite photo some love by clicking the button below the photo!

You just have to get this shot when shooting at Thacher. Love the look Liz is giving Scott!

Albany making a guest appearance in the background.

You’re about to see some serious hotness in some AMAZING light!

I love this one, feels like we’re spying on them a little bit!

Oh yeah, this is how we roll.

Sometimes we really love a classic black and white.

The Facebook teaser, and our favorite picture. Make sure to like our Facebook page if you haven’t already to be the first to see their wedding photos!

These two are so cute together!

The leaves may have been gone already, but these two brought some gorgeousness to the scenery anyway!

Liz rocking the model look.

Oh yeah, there’s that killer light.

Had to try another killer black and white – it just looked awesome with the light.

Seriously, how cute are these two?

Off to Downtown Albany to bring the Scott Kretschmann Photography signature After Dark Session to an engagement session! It was so cold down there, but so worth it to get these awesome shots!

The lights, the cobblestone, the impending kiss….perfection.

We had to finish it off with the signature shot to show off the bling!

Liz and Scott, thanks so much for hanging out with us, braving the elements, and rocking it out for these photos. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do! We can’t wait for your wedding at the Canoe Island Lodge in Lake George this coming September!

Well folks, we’re finally almost caught up with our fall engagement session backlog – we had so many sessions in October and November, it was INSANE! We definitely won’t complain about being busy though, as we had some great sessions with some amazing couples. Fall in Upstate NY is always our most beautiful time of year, so it’s no surprise that it makes the perfect backdrop for engagement photos. Anyway, on to Kate and Kevin’s session!

Kate and Kevin are very in sync as a couple, which is something that just kind of happens when you have been dating since high school. Their first kiss story has to be the best one we’ve had yet. It was their one month anniversary, and Kevin said he really wanted to give her a kiss, so he opened her hand and placed a Hershey’s Kiss in it. Smooth huh? Suffice it to say he got his kiss shortly thereafter. That definitely tops the list of best first kiss stories! Like all good romance stories they kept in touch through the time and distance of college with Kevin making the long 5 hour trips from Rochester to White Plains every few weeks to see Kate.

After Kate graduated law school and passed the bar (this apparently a test and not a place to drink) they moved to Cortland. After living together for two years Kevin decided that it was time to seal the deal with a ring!  It started with a trip to a bed and breakfast in Ithaca where little did Kate know he was a man with a plan.  After asking for her parents for permission and having her mom try on the ring (how cute is that?) his plans were in place.  Kevin actually texted Kate’s parents throughout the proposal so they could be involved.  After a trip to the spa he took her to a great restaurant complete with roses and after getting back to the bed and breakfast, he got down on one knee and asked her if she would do him the honor of being his wife. I think you can guess what she said!

Which brings us to their engagement session in Albany. After much brainstorming and discussion we decided on a trip to downtown Albany and then a super secret spot where we love to shoot. Kate made a stop by Lipstick and Lashes (ladies, for your wedding hair and makeup, you want to use them, trust us!) to get her hair and makeup done then we were ready for an unforgettable engagement session. It was a little chilly, but the light was perfect and we still had a blast and got some awesome photos. Check them out and be sure to vote for your favorites by showing them a little “love”

Gentlemen, if you don’t know how to properly dip your brides and brides to be, you need to take lessons from Kevin. He rocked it. So smooth.

Oh yeah, there’s the light I was talking about.

We love reflections just a little bit.

How hot is this one? Seriously! That’s a model look right there.

Late fall in Albany, you HAVE to play in the leaves!

A little dancing…can you tell we were having fun?

These two were so goofy. We loved it.

In this next one, Kevin is practicing for his GQ cover shoot.

Kate wanted to be dipped again. Kevin obliged. The light was perfect. Need we say more?

Here are a couple of shots with the Cathedral of All Saints in the background. It’s a GORGEOUS church, and in case we forgot to mention it, it’s also where they will be getting married in July!

Golden awesomeness

Off to one of our favorite spots to shoot in Albany. The sunset light is always KILLER there!

This was our Facebook teaser. Make sure to like our page to be the first to see their wedding photos! It is also one of our favorite e-pics of the year, and I totally think when we redo our wall art in the studio this winter, this one is going up there.

These are SO perfect.

A nice one for mom and dad:

As there is a bunch of snow on the ground at our house right now, we are totally missing this gorgeous fall color.

We hope everyone enjoyed these, and make sure to click the love button under your favorites! Kate and Kevin, we are so excited for your wedding, and we can’t wait to show off all the joy and magic of that day right here! Thanks so much for braving the cold and spending the afternoon with us. We had such a great time, and we hope you love these images as much as we do!

We call all of our clients rockstars but it isn’t often we get to photograph actual rockstars. Jason is a member of Jet Crash Billy, which for those of you not in the know is a high energy party band that plays in spots all around the Albany area and Jen is definitely his #1 fan.  Of course you know their session was going rock and these shots definitely don’t disappoint. For their session they chose the Saratoga Race Course, the site of their first date or “where it all began” as Lisa likes to say in her sports announcer voice. We made a little stop afterwards at Congress Park to really round out the Saratoga Springs experience.

After the big snow of October we were able to get some warmer weather (finally) and some pretty fall light. I love fall light because it is so warm and beautiful it makes Albany look a bit like Southern California. You put our rockstar couple in gorgeous locations with some pretty light and just like Emeril would say BAM! You have a Kretschmann engagement session to remember. Even when we had a small forgotten clothes crisis at our second location Jen and Jason continued with their session like pros. What follows are some of our favorites so hang tight because there is a lot of rockstar style with a touch of cute in this session.

No matter how many times we shoot on the track, it’s still cool.

At the starting gates:

The start of the pretty light:

SO romantic! :

Standby for August 18 next year:

I always love the clubhouse when it’s empty. So cool.

LOVE this one:

Off to Congress Park, and we hit it right at sunset. PERFECTION!

This one was our Facebook teaser. Make sure you like our page to be the first to see their wedding photos!

OK, funny story with this next series. Those of you who follow this blog know we love a nice golden backlight from a golden sunset more than anything, which is just what we had here. So, as I’m lying on my stomach in the grass getting these shots, and Lisa is standing a few yards to my right catching the other angle, both of us with pro cameras, lenses, and gear bags, an old lady comes up behind me as I’m shooting and says, “Excuse me, you shouldn’t shoot into the sun. Those won’t come out.”  Gee, thanks ma’am. I’ll leave it up to you guys to decide if they came out or not. We personally love them.

That golden rim light is sheer perfection. The smiles and happiness on their faces is just sublime. Can’t beat it.

Classic Saratoga Springs:

Did we mention how much we love sunset photos???

Oh yeah. That’s the light.

So incredibly sweet. How can you not LOVE this one?

And we’ll finish off playing in the leaves.

Actually we’ll finish with Jason feeding the duck that came over to visit a piece of leaf. The duck was NOT amused.

Can’t say we weren’t though.

Jen and Jason-We are so happy that everything happened the way it did so that we are able to be a part of your special day It was a blast working with you guys, and we can’t wait for your wedding. Oh, and for anyone who isn’t doing anything this Saturday night, Jason and Jet Crash Billy will be playing at the Dinosaur BBQ in Troy, so come down and see them and say hi to us as well!

We are so excited to post this session! When we met Michelle and Mike we hit it off right away. In fact our consult lasted until midnight, and you could tell we’d be really close pretty much instantly. Michelle has actually been helping us out as our assistant at our photo booth this fall as well! Lisa loves working with our brides to plan their engagement sessions, so she had been planning this one for a while. When Michelle mentioned wanting a fall session, Lisa automatically went into planning a very fall engagement session. We thought nothing would scream fall in Upstate NY more than a session at Indian Ladder Farms with its amazing apple orchard.

Michelle and Mike are doctoral students in sociology who met at UAlbany, so they are extremely busy and we are lucky that they managed to find some time to squeeze in a session. We think it was well worth it though for their day off and we managed to get just a peek of some pretty fall foliage. It was a holiday weekend so the place was crowded but we managed to shoot around it and you can’t even tell that the place was packed. Not only did we get to munch on some apples but we crawled in apple crates and drank apple cider. It doesn’t get much more fall than that! Lisa also decided they should do apple themed save the date pictures, which we absolutely love.

We are so excited to shoot Michelle and Mike’s wedding in May at Riverstone Manor. We can’t wait to meet all of their family and friends and be a part of their special day. Michelle and Mike, we hope you enjoy your pictures and that reflect the love you have for each other. Make sure to leave some love for the happy couple in the comments section!

Gonna start today off with our Facebook teaser for this session. Normally the first 30 minutes of a session, the couple is still getting used to us and being in front of the camera, but Michelle and Mike got right into it. It was awesome. Make sure to like our page to be the first to see their wedding photos!

So sweet:

How cute are these two? And the light….so perfect.

Even with the awesome light, we had to do some great black and whites too!

Nothing says fall around here like some fresh picked, ripe apples.

Then, we found the perfect spot, with the most perfect light ever:

Fresh pressed apple cider? Yes please!

We just had to have a little to drink while we were there:

You’re going to get not one, but TWO bling shots today!

This was Lisa’s idea. I love it.

That “Indian Ladder Farms Green” is so iconic in this area.

Yeah, here’s the bling again. Mike did well.

Just as we were finishing up, I saw the red tree. Just couldn’t pass it up!

I think they both picked pretty well!

Michelle and Mike, thank you so much for the AMAZING time, and we are so excited about your upcoming wedding! We had so much fun on this session, we know we’re going to have to go back to Indian Ladder again!

Sam and Nick booked us a couple of months ago for their Century House wedding. We immediately started planning for an engagement session and they were lucky enough to get one of the nicest days in October (and with our schedule in the fall, those are REALLY hard to come by). It was sunny, 80 degrees with radiant blue skies which we are now reminiscing about as winter begins! We hit up their apartment complex first to hang out with their two dogs and then we headed to Prospect Mountain in Lake George for some pretty fall foliage. Even though it was a little tough climbing around on rocks with our gear on the pictures were so worth it. The view from the mountain was unbelievable and it was great to shoot up there. Once we were done we headed down the mountain to shoot on the docks of Lake George. We love the light during sunset on the docks, and the view with the mountains and water in the background is always amazing.

We really enjoyed getting to hang out with Sam and Nick because they are so much fun, not to mention that they treated us to Ben and Jerry’s at the end of the session! We even got to hear about their Christmas time proposal at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. We can’t wait for their wedding in May, and more importantly we can’t wait to share it with you all. We hope you enjoy the pictures!

A little family portrait:

So cute:

Yeah, let’s just say he wouldn’t look at us. At all. This is the best we could get:

Off to prospect mountain. LOVED this light:

A little portrait for the parents:

LOVE this one:

The sun was really strong, so we decided to have some fun with silhouettes:

Time to go down to the lake!

How about a little dancing?

Sam really does have amazing eyes:

Our Facebook teaser is next. Be sure to like our page to be the first to see their wedding photos!

This next one really is one of my favorites:

Of course, we have to finish by showing off the bling:

We hope you all enjoyed these, and we can’t wait to show you their wedding pics!

You could tell Alyssa was used to modeling from the moment we started our shoot earlier this month. Not only was she decked out in a pretty dress and ridiculous heels but she was able to walk and manuever in tall grass in those heels. She also managed to get Ryan to bring his GQ best to the shoot. Even though we had to reschedule due to rain, we finally managed to get a day with some of the most beautiful light we have ever gotten for an e-shoot. Saratoga Springs is so full of amazing locations to shoot at We did managed to get chased away from one of the places we shot at, but it was well worth it for these shots!

We really appreciated their flexibilty with their schedule even though they had to miss their weekly dinner with Ryan’s family. They allowed us to wander around and pretty much look for beautiful light and backgrounds. These two totally worked it for the camera, and we LOVE these images!

We can’t wait for their beautiful May 2012 wedding at Birch Hill for what we are sure will be the wedding of the century. Birch Hill is a gorgeous location so stay tuned for some awesome pictures from that.  In the meantime, enjoy some pictures in the pretty light while we in upstate NY are preparing for an October nor’easter on a gray and chilly day.

Say it with me now: Swoonworthy!

I love a nice silhouette every once in a while.

Tall grass is always our favorite. We totally made good use of it on this shoot.

The killer golden sunlight made for an amazing session.

Did I mention the killer light?

These two are so cute together.

This next one is our favorite image I shot:

A few intimate moments shot by Lisa. One serious:

And one fun:

Love this in black and white:

This one is our favorite that Lisa shot, and also our Facebook teaser!

There’s nothing quite like Fall in upstate NY!

These two were seriously having so much fun!

Yeah, here’s where they pulled out the modeling faces:

A little portrait for mom and dad:

Sunset, our favorite time!

This next one is SO much fun!

Did I mention the awesome golden light? Well, I’m going to mention it again:

Lisa said that she wants to be BFF’s and buy friendship bracelets with this picture.

We had so much fun at this session, we can’t WAIT for their wedding. Stay tuned for lots more fall engagement fun on our blog, coming very soon, and for our neighbors in NY and New England, stay warm and safe this weekend!

Welcome back to the second half Kim and Jesse’s awesome engagement session in Northampton, MA! We continue here with some more awesome treats for your eyeballs. After hanging out at the candy store you saw in the last post, we wandered around the rest of Downtown Northampton and ended up in what was quite possibly the coolest bar we’ve been in in a LONG time. It’s actually an old train tunnel that has been converted into a bar. An empty, really cool bar is always awesome for a few cool shots. Kim and Jesse were game for anything and they got some amazing shots because of it!

The best thing about Kim and Jesse’s session was not only getting to see new locations and hang out with them but we also got to learn more about them. Kim used to go to Sweetie’s with her dad and we loved hearing about the time they spent there together. We also got to see the place where they got engaged. Additionally, we also learned some new lingo –  did you know that Northampton is referred to as “NoHo” by the locals? We didn’t before, but we certainly do now! Not to mention that Lisa got to try out incorporating “wicked” into her everyday lingo. Overall, it was a pretty amazing session and we hope you enjoy it!

We shot a wedding here at the Hotel Northampton last year, and really love the place!

Of course, we had to move across the street and shoot in front of the Calvin. So many cool shows at this place, and it’s so big a part of downtown NoHo.

Love, love, love this next one:

Coming soon – Kim and Jesse as Husband and Wife:

These doors were just begging to be photographed, and of course, we happened to have a hot couple we could put in front of them. Couldn’t resist!

Of course, we can’t do an e-shoot without the signature ring shot:

A little lovin’ in the median:

We ran across a gritty brick alley, and knew we had to get a shot there!

Then it was off to the bar to finish off the session. This place was empty because it was still early, but it was wicked cool (as they say in MA) – an old train tunnel turned into a bar? Yes please.

This next one was the facebook teaser. You should have seen it right after their session. Wait, you didn’t? That means you didn’t like our page yet. Wanna go fix that?

We hope you all enjoyed the session, and we can’t wait till their wedding next year! Kim and Jesse, thanks so much for showing us your world, we can’t wait to meet your friends and family and spend your wedding day with you!

Welcome back to the second half of Laurie and Joe’s engagement session! We have been hard at work getting their pictures done in time for their wedding next month. After our trip on the subway (as seen in Part 1) we moved on to the place where it all began – a wine bar called Winegasm in Astoria, Queens. The name sounds a little strange but it is seriously the cutest little bar in Astoria. It was here over glasses of wine that Laurie and Joe met and fell in love. E-sessions are so much better when the locations are important and really say something about the couple. It was so wonderful to get to visit the place where they fell in love and share a glass of wine. The staff was really wonderful and they let us take over the place for a little while.

After we finished at the wine bar, we raced to the west village to get some more shots before the oncoming rainstorm hit. It was looking pretty ominous on the radar image on the iPhone, but we decided to chance it. Turns out that the rain beat us. A quick run into the local Walgreens for an umbrella and we got right back to it!  I know that the golden light is beautiful but something about the rain is incredibly romantic. Laurie and Joe were so wonderful and adapted nicely to the change in weather. They got a little wet but it was totally worth it. There is too much to love about the pictures-the colors, the reflections, the romance. As Lisa would say..swoonworthy. The teaser pic from the pier got some rave reviews so we can’t wait to see what you think of the rest of the pictures. We are so happy that we had a couple who was so ready and willing to do anything we asked in order to get some great pictures.  Thank you for checking out the blog post and we hope you love these pictures as much as we do!

A little look back at the place they met:

I love this one. Makes me feel like we were peeking in at a genuine moment:

Yeah, the name of the place cracks me up, but I love it!

Then it was off back to Manhattan! We thought we might beat the rain, but we were wrong. Still, we found this pier in the west village – the wet wood made for the perfect reflecting surface and made for some killer images! This next one was our Facebook teaser. Go like our page and see these first!

This picture feels so vintage and romantic in black and white:

I just love how the wood became a mirror in the rain:

It was REALLY windy, and the umbrella turned inside out a couple of times, but I love how it added a little motion to the images. We didn’t even need a fan to give her that super model hair blowing look

Walking through the West Village, we came across one of NYC’s great cobblestone streets. The stones glistened in the rain, and we knew we had to stop and shoot.

This next one is totally one of my favorite images from the session. The kiss, the couple, the cobblestone, the rain, and the vintage black and white. It just came together so perfectly.

On our way back at the end of the day, we walked through the meatpacking district and got a couple of cool shots to finish off the session.

The taxi whizzing by at dusk on the wet streets. Love. We can’t get enough of shooting in NYC with scenes like this.

Thanks so such for checking out the blog, and we really hope you enjoyed the photos! Laurie and Joe, thank you so much for rolling with the punches, getting a little damp…or drenched….and showing us your world. We had a blast and can’t wait to come back downstate for your wedding next month!

Welcome back to Part 2 of Abby and Jack’s e-session! If you didn’t see part 1, check it out here! Our couples must have a thing for photography (at least we’d like to think so), because here we have another proposal story involving picture taking tricks. Jack did such a great job the with ring, make sure to check it out in the post below and enjoy their proposal story as told by Abby:

Jack and I decided to finally take a much needed vacation! So we went to Ft. Lauderdale and then took a cruise to the Bahamas. The day before we went on our cruise we took a trip down to the Keys. Of course we got up at the crack of dawn to get started on our adventure. We stopped at a small diner in Key Largo called Doc’s Diner and enjoyed a delicious breakfast, but mainly we wanted to stop and ask the locals were the best beaches were. They had recommended Anne’s Beach; so off we went. We pulled up to a small parking area were the crystal clear ocean water took your breath away. There was a wooded path that led you to the actual beach, and of course I was so taken aback by the natural beauty around me that I didn’t notice Jack trailing behind. There I am taking photos non-stop, yelling to Jack, “get in front of me, I want to take a picture of you,” as I continued to walk forward not even thinking about him lagging behind. Again I say, “Jack get in front of me so I can take a picture of you!” At this point I am starting to get annoyed, as I think to my self, “why the heck is he ignoring me!?” Finally I turn around, just about ready to yell at him and there he was on one knee, asking me to marry him. Of course I said yes! He began to put the ring on my finger and told me that his Grandfather had bought this ring for his Grandmother when he got out of World War II. The tears just would not stop rolling down my face! Immediately I had to call all of my friends and family to tell them the great news!

Now we’re just a month away from their wedding, and we are excited to show you the second half of their e-session from the Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs. Enjoy!

There’s just something about the way she looks at him that tells you that they are going to have a very long, happy marriage.

Just can’t get enough of this golden light.

A nice portrait for mom and dad, but with the most awesome light EVAH!

So cute!

This next one was the Facebook teaser. Didn’t see it yet? Why not? You should have liked our page already! What are you waiting for?

There are very few places as nice as the Hall of Springs and the reflecting pond at sunset. Put a gorgeous couple in love in front of it and what do you have? PERFECTION!

Can’t work with the reflecting pond without a reflection of the couple!

Gotta finish it off with the signature shot.

Abby and Jack, thank you guys so much for being troopers about the heat, for jumping in the creek, and for listening to all our crazy ideas! We can’t wait for your gorgeous fall wedding!