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!

Kristin and Ira are one of those cool couples you want to be friends with as soon as you meet them. We spent our entire session with them laughing. They were relaxed and easy going which made their session a breeze to shoot, not to mention that they have some serious chemistry.  Once you meet them you can see why they fell in love and how incredible they are together. These two really wanted a nice upstate fall session, and they came up from their home in Queens to shoot with us in Saratoga Springs. I swear this is the year of having couples that live down in New York City and are getting married up here. We could seriously throw a big party down in NYC sometime with just our brides and grooms that live there!

I wish we could take some credit for helping plan the creative locations in this session but that was all Kristin. Not only did she find a cool bookstore to shoot in but she also planned all their outfits! Kristin is really creative and made the session so unique to them as a couple.  We had never gotten to shoot in a bookstore so it allowed us a chance to be creative and try some new things. We started at Kristin’s parents house where we took pictures in shirts that Ira had designed and printed through his screen printing company for valentines day while he was saving money to propose, and the shirts just had to make an appearance at their engagement shoot, along with a matching balloon! Then we stopped by the bookstore and then we finished at Moreau Lake State Park. All in all we got a great range of locations and outfits.

Kristin and Ira are planning are planning a beautiful Canfield Casino wedding in October of next year and with all of their creativity it will be an event to remember. They are an amazing couple who love to laugh and know how to have a good time so we are sure that they will have an amazing event. Without further ado, we hope you enjoy their pictures!

Here are the famous shirts, and they just had to get a balloon to match! It was really cute.

As per our discussion at the session, this is now “the love bench.”

Off to the bookstore! This cool old location definitely called for a few cool black and whites.

Time to do some reading!

Yeah, Ira did a good job with this.

This one is our favorite and was also our facebook teaser.

Seriously…how cute can these two get….

I’m pretty sure this was a reaction to one of Lisa’s jokes, but we were all laughing for this entire session. It was so much fun!

I love the reflection in this one:

Off to the lake!

Love this one.

The fall color was so awesome. The fall left us way too soon with a snowstorm, but it was great while it lasted. There’s nothing like fall in Upstate New York.

How adorable are these two?

One of my other favorites:

Lisa spotted these boats and said we had to shoot there.

One for mom and dad:

Of course we have to show off the bling with our signature shot:

We had to close out with a couple of shots after the sun set. The dusk color was incredible.

After the sun had set, we grabbed a great dinner with them at Hattie’s Chicken Shack, which is seriously the best fried chicken we have had since we left the south. If you haven’t tried it yet, go soon. It is SO good, and Kristin and Ira made amazing dinner companions. We really can’t wait to see them again! We hope everyone enjoyed these, and we can’t wait to show you their wedding photos next year!

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 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!

Abby and Jack are the kind of couple that you immediately feel comfortable being around. They met at a party and now the rest as they say is history! Abby and Jack are in the middle of restoring their house in time to host their September wedding and we can’t wait to see it. They have been incredibly busy but we are so happy that they managed to squeeze in session with us on the hottest day of the year. Even we, as former Floridians, were melting, so you KNOW it was hot.

They are funny and know how to kick up their heels and have a good time. They managed still have fun in the heat and enjoy each others company. We were at the Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs with some beautiful light and we even got a chance to cool off in the creek. Abby and Jack- we hope you got to enjoyed your air conditioning and redbox movie. We hope you love these photos as much as we do! Be sure to  come back tomorrow to hear the story of their proposal and the second half of their images!

So normally lenses fogging up do to a change in temperature is a major problem for us when shooting winter weddings, moving from the cold outdoors into a heated reception site. I’d never had it happen in the summer, till this day. The heat index was somewhere around 105. Of course, we cranked the car AC as low as it would go, so when we stepped outside, all our lenses fogged up! Luckily, I kind of like the dreamy effect it gave this image:

Abby- You are gorgeous inside and out!!

The park has so many cool areas to shoot in, so we thought we’d find a new one!

Golden light, an old bench, tall grass, we just couldn’t ask for a better spot.

These two are so cute together.

A little bit of romance plus some pretty light..BOOM!

I love the way she just fits so perfectly in his arms.

That creek was looking really appealing, and it was COLD so of course we rolled up our pants and jumped in! It was well worth it, cool photos and it cooled us down!

The light, the trees and the cute couple = Swoon!

Check back tomorrow for part 2!

Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome back for the second half of Meredith and Dan’s wedding from the gorgeous Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs. Yesterday, you all got to see the beginning of the day, with hair, makeup, the first look, and some fun bridal party portraits. While that’s all wonderful stuff, we can’t forget about their wonderful interfaith ceremony and killer reception! Their ceremony was breathtaking, there is no other word to describe it. The ceremony did such an amazing job blending their Jewish and Christian faiths, it really showed the two families and two faiths coming together as one. After the ceremony though, it was time to PARTY! Because Meredith and Dan chose to do a first look before the ceremony, we had all their photos done so they could go in and spend a little more time with their guests by going to their cocktail hour. After that, they opened the door to the Arches room, and the reception kicked off. There were beautiful, heartfelt toasts, an amazing dinner, and dancing all night long to the tunes provided by The Piano Man DJs. The dance floor was packed all night! Of course, as always, we finished the night off with our signature After Dark Session, where we took their chuppah and showed it in a new “light” – check out the awesomeness below!

Time for the ketubah signing:

Their ketubah was gorgeous. I loved all the gold detailing.

Meredith BEAMED as she walked down the aisle.

That’s a proud father right there:

We just love this look that Meredith gave Dan:

We love how both traditions were incorporated into this ceremony, including the Kiddushin, the blessing over wine:

The rings:

And then a kiss to make it official:

We just love how happy they looked after the kiss:

And a blessing to send them on their way:

They even had an incredible kiss as they had their recessional. We totally didn’t even prompt this. I love great moments like this at weddings!

The Arches room at the Gideon Putnam:

Another great cake from Coccadotts. We got a slice of the almond – our favorite!

Their first dance was absolutely magical.

They danced to Finally Forever by Chris Cornell. We get so excited when a couple picks a song for the first dance that’s not traditional, but instead really fits them. It really sets the tone for a great reception.

This next one was Lisa’s favorite shot of the day. She really captured a great moment:

Party time!

Even Meredith’s parents broke it down on the dance floor!

And of course, you can’t have Jewish traditions in a wedding without a horah!

Yeah, I just had to post this one. Couldn’t resist:

To finish off the night, we stepped outside for a few minutes for their After Dark Session to light up their chuppah!

This one was our Facebook teaser. If you had liked our page, you would have seen it first!

Meredith and Dan, thanks so much for letting us be a part of your day! We can’t wait to have you by for your viewing once all the photos are ready. We’ll see you soon!

In case you were wondering, here were all the fabulous vendors Meredith and Dan chose for their wedding:

Venue: The Gideon Putnam

Flowers: The Posie Peddler

DJ: The Piano Man DJ Productions

Dress: White One / W1 from Something Bleu Bridal

Shoes: Benjamin Adams London

Cake: Coccadotts

Ceremony Music: A Touch of Woodwinds

Being with Dan and Meredith is, as they say the south, like drinking sweet tea on a hot day. They are cool, refreshingly honest and all over full of sweetness, not only for each other, but also for everyone around them.  While this day was a wonderful day for them, it was obvious that they planned it to be a wonderful time for all their family and friends. They made sure to take care of their guests with bottled water before the ceremony (it was a little toasty!), a great cocktail hour, amazing food, and a welcoming atmosphere that made everyone feel at home. They had a really beautiful interfaith ceremony celebrating their Jewish and Christian faiths just outside of the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs. There was a ketubah signing, blessings in both hebrew and english, as well as a unity candle.  Their Rabbi and Pastor worked together so well, it seemed like they did this kind of wedding all the time. It wasn’t your normal wedding though, it was uniquely Meredith and Dan, and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Each part of the ceremony was well though out and personal to the couple. By far our favorite part of any day is learning more about our couples and their lives. We learned so much about Dan and Meredith from the way that their families welcomed us into their lives and all of the very personal and beautiful touches they included in the day.

The Gideon Putnam – one of the great, classic hotels.

Dan graduated from Syracuse, so we thought it was only appropriate to find some orange for the jewelry shots!

Lisa prefers to think of it as Florida Gator orange.

Meredith’s gorgeous dress from the spanish designer White One / W1:

And of course, cute shoes from Benjamin Adams to go with it:

Mom capturing some memories:

Meredith is a beautiful girl already, but the ladies from Lipstick N’ Lashes made her look stunning:

Putting on the dress, the moment it becomes “real” :

Beautiful flowers from the Posie Peddler:

I just love this shot of Meredith just before she left to see Dan for the first time:

Speaking of Dan, he was looking sharp, including a killer watch!

Awaiting his bride. Such a cool character, he didn’t look nervous at all!

Arriving for the First Look:

Dan was absolutely beaming seeing Meredith for the first time:

We love it when our couples do a first look, not only does it let you get your photos done ahead of time so you can enjoy your cocktail hour, but it really does get the best reactions from the couple. You don’t have to worry about having a really emotional moment in front of your family and friends, instead, you get to share it with each other!

A few, quiet moments together. It’s such a rarity on the wedding day, these two really enjoyed it!

Green grass, blue skies, brick arches, and a gorgeous couple. Can’t ask for much more than that.

This next one is one of my favorites from the day. Totally love it!

These two are so cute together:

Time to introduce everyone to the bridal party!

The guys looking sharp:

Gotta get the Reservoir Dogs shot. Dan can pull of swagger:

Meanwhile, Lisa was having a blast with the girls:

Lisa’s favorite:

After that, it was time to head back to the Gideon for the ceremony, but you guys are just going to have to hold tight for that one, that’s all coming in Part 2!

After spending time among the flowers at Yaddo Gardens, we headed over to Congress Park. The park is special to Erin and Terrence because they will be getting married here in May 2013 at the famous Canfield Casino. We love the park because it has so many cool shooting locations and is always the perfect backdrop for a e-session. Between the carousel, the fountains, and the beautiful light the park did not disappoint. They even introduced us to Spit and Spat, the famous Saratoga fountains. Honestly, we had never been over to that side of the park before. Erin is a proud hometown girl and we learned a lot about the history of the carousel and the fountains while we were taking pictures. To go along with the vintage Saratoga feel of the park Erin rocked a vintage dress from her grandmother. She looked totally awesome in it and made it look like it was new again. Erin and T-Rex, thank you for making our jobs so easy. We hope you love your pictures and feel free to stalk our blog anytime.

This picture is classic Saratoga

Why have two shooters at an engagement session? Well, one of us is sure to be cracking an inappropriate joke at any given time, plus, you get two views. Scott’s:

And Lisa’s:

Dear Saratoga, Please don’t ever change…

You can’t shoot at Congress Park without taking a ride on the famous carousel.

More shoes that will make the blog stalkers swoon!

The day was almost completely overcast, but suddenly, we spotted a one foot wide sliver of golden light WAY across the grass from where we were shooting, so we had to go run towards it and use it before it left. It totally got us some of our favorite shots of the day.

LOVE!

The golden light just couldn’t have been more perfect.

Not to mention, the couple couldn’t have been more perfect!

Next one’s the facebook teaser. Like our page and you get to see these first!

Lisa is just awesome at getting these little intimate moments:

Erin’s so cute. You’re a lucky guy, T-dog. (Lisa has a lot of pet names for Terrance from our short session!)

Of course, have to finish it off with the signature shot as the sun set.

Hope everyone enjoyed these, stay tuned for lots more coming to the blog this week!

It all started in Law School. Amongst tortes, injunctions, and habeas corpus (this list of lawyer terms courtesy of Lisa watching Legally Blonde) they fell in love. Theirs has been a journey with bumps and twists, but as all good love stories do, this one definitely has a happy ending. Together they are stylish, cool and make each other laugh so easily. As an added bonus Erin introduced us to Words with Friends (yeah, ok, we’re a little behind the curve on that one, as we have been completely addicted to Angry Birds for the better part of a year). We loved photographing them and telling their story. Erin and Terrance made the long journey up during a brief pause in their legal studies in Jersey to shoot their engagement session with us in Saratoga Springs. Erin is actually taking her bar exam this week, so everyone wish her luck!  They are planning their Saratoga Springs wedding for the spring of 2013, and it already sounds like it will be a party not to be missed! We started their engagement session at the classic Yaddo Gardens in Saratoga before moving on to Congress Park to finish off their session. You are all going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the awesomeness that came from the second half of the session, but for now, check out the first half from Yaddo. Back when Erin was in high school art class, she spent hours in Yaddo. It’s a really inspiring place, and these two fit in perfectly there. Check it out!

This classic gate just begs for a little black and white awesomeness:

Erin had a gorgeous ring:

Ahhh…Erin, You are O.M.Gorgeous! 

A little romance amongst the columns. We love a little dip when we shoot, so keep that in mind if you’re shooting with us. Practice beforehand and get a killer shot like this! -

A little trademarked Lisa intimacy here. Love this shot:

If Erin and Terrence had a fan club- We would be the Co-Presidents…

We’re really excited to show off the rest of Erica and Kameron’s engagement photos from Saratoga Springs today! They will be getting married this summer at the Inn at Erlowest, and we can’t wait to capture their big day. Erica and Kam met in Saratoga Springs, and spent much of the early part of their relationship at and around the race course. Their first “I Love You” was exchanged at the track so naturally, we had to shoot their engagement session there and around the rest of the city. We’ve put up a slideshow of some of our favorites, plus a link to view the rest of the photos, so turn up your volume, watch this in full screen mode, and enjoy!