Brent and Christina are such a great couple.  They are both missionaries with Campus Crusade for Christ and have traveled overseas extensively.  Brent is the Director of IT (and my bosses boss) for The JESUS Film Project and Christina is just now moving into a new role with HR, also with The JESUS Film Project.  I had such a fun time taking their engagement pictures and look forward to photographing their wedding in May. 

Here are some of my favorite shots from our time together.

I saw this gate and wanted to get some shots of them in front of it.  Within just minutes of them standing in front of it, an entire herd of cows came over to see what we were up to.  I love this one of the cow looking at them.

Notice the cows in the background

Brent has several handguns and he and Christina have gone out shooting together.  So they decided it would be fun to get some pictures with the guns.  Brent is very careful, and while he was checking the guns to make sure they were empty he was telling Christina that she needed to both visually and physically ensure that the gun was empty and had Christina recite the rules of handgun safety.  Here are some shots of the two of them with the guns.

Wouldn’t this have made a fun “Save the date” card?

One picture that Christina wanted very badly was one of Brent sneaking up on her.  I love the look of anticipation on her face in this one.

Brent and Christina, thank you for letting me hang out with you for a fun afternoon.  I am looking forward to your wedding very much!

I am so excited for my friend Joe and his beautiful fiancee. I had the privilege of being there taking pictures when Joe proposed to Keijo on Christmas Eve.

The original plan was that Joe was going to take her to dinner and then bring her to a coffee shop that they like in downtown Orlando, but he found out they were closed over the holidays. When he stopped by to discover that, he ended up noticing that The Veranda Bed & Breakfast had a nice little patio in front. He stopped in and got permission to use their tables that evening and together we figured out how to make this work.

I ended up picking up some cake and candles and Martinelli’s and brought the necessary dishes for serving it all. Joe’s sole job was to get Keijo there after dinner and get her to say “yes”.

I loved talking to Joe right before he left for dinner. He commented “my heart is thumping like it is going to burst out of my chest”.

Though I am a romantic and absolutely love to read books with proposals and see movies with them, I can’t tell you what was said between the two that evening. I wouldn’t have dreamed of intruding on their privacy.

Two funny things happened, at least according to me. The first is that though I was able to find a place to hide while taking the pictures, every so often I could hear Keijo say “who is that?”. I don’t know how Joe responded, but I just pretended that I wasn’t there. The other funny incident was from the fact that in my careful planning on bringing wine glasses, plates, forks and even nice cloth napkins, I didn’t bring a bottle opener for the Martinelli’s. I could see Joe struggle to open it, and then put it back down for a little bit, and then pick it up again to give it another try. He finally gave up after several tries and brought the bottle across the street to a 7-11 store to ask them to open it!

Here are some of the shots for that evening. I’m so thankful for my 50mm 1.4 lens and that my camera did so well at 1600 ISO!

The table waiting for the lovebirds to arrive:

While I was waiting for Joe and Keijo, the lady working at The Veranda Bed & Breakfast came out to see if there was anything we needed. These folks are so sweet and very helpful.

I was able to hide behind this sign just about the entire time

And now here are Joe and Keijo

I love this one with the fuzzy leaves giving such a soft glow

Joe struggling with the bottle

And finally I was able to come out of hiding and be the first to congratulate them!

Joe and Keijo, I am so happy for you. I can’t wait to do your engagement session and wedding!