CONNECTION JENNIFER + DREW
"What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul"
— Victor Hugo
This was one of those shoots that leaves me in awe of my job. The kind of day where I run out on a whim, with no real plan of where we'll go or what we'll do and only know what I'd like to accomplish. I try to plan very little about my engagement sessions - in fact the reason we started calling them connection sessions a little over a year ago was simply because we wanted our couples to focus on what was important. Jennifer made fun of me when she stepped out of the car before we started this session "Don't worry Miles, I didn't bring a whole bunch of props", She said. The truth is I don't hate Pinterest - in face I spend quite a bit of time on there myself. I'll probably pin most of this shoot as a chance to inspire somebody else's creativity a little. What I don't like is when a shoot isn't about the couple - but instead it's about the cliche of what the couple is supposed to represent. Jennifer + Drew are so much more than simply in love. They're Jennifer + Drew. Two independent people with dreams and goals and ideas of what their lives and the world around them should look like - and yet there's something about the other the feels necessary to them. It's intangible being in love. It's not rational, or practical. It's the abandonment of self and that little detail right there is what we leave out of the movies. The feeling that in order to be in love we have to be willing to love somebody (who even at times may not be deserving) more than we love ourselves.
I could go on for ages about all of this. I'm far from an expert but what I have spent years now doing is watching people and I have more than just a couple of theories. The reality about Jennifer + Drew is that from the very first moment I met with them together Drew has wanted to be a part of this relationship. He isn't a "whatever you want honey" type of guy and I love that about him. This shoot firmed that up for me because for every moment that was spent without a plan, Drew's focus was completely on making sure Jennifer was comfortable and I'm not even sure he knew that himself. As we wandered and laughed and had fun there's something a bit awkward at times about an engagement shoot. It's definitely not a normal afternoon and yet it can be a lot of fun. But what it needs to succeed is a groom who's present in the moment. Drew completely wraps himself around Jennifer and these two just melt into each other every chance they get. This shoot was a blast for me. I've known Jennifer for a few years as a colleague of Melissa's but to see them together was completely unique. I love the way she laughs and relaxes into the purpose of all of this and love the way he interacts and understand how much these little moments matter. An engagement shoot isn't about the photos at all - they're a biproduct of two people, in love, trusting their photographer to make sure they are represented exactly as they feel. Super grateful to have been asked to be a part of this day and I can't wait to watch Jennifer walk down the aisle to Drew this year. I'm completely blessed to call them both friends. - Miles.
