Happy Monday! We survived the host transfer this weekend, and are back with our regularly scheduled posting as promised. This is just the beginning, guys! Big things in store for us! :) We appreciate you bearing with us this weekend. Now, on with the show!

I have an über sweet engagement shoot from KimJMartin Photography to share with you today! It’s beyond cute and full of heartfelt meaning. You see, they chose to do the shoot at the exact spot where Phillip proposed!! How great is that?? Seriously, so cute!

Phillip and Lindsay met through mutual friends about four years ago. They got to know each other while hanging with other friends before deciding to make plans for two. Their perfect date consisted of sushi, a movie, and coffee afterward. (Sounds pretty darn perfect to me too.) Phillip said he started asking Lindsay to go for coffee after the movie so he could spend more time with her, not wanting the evening to end too soon. (Awwww.)

One day, late in 2009, Phillip and Lindsay went to San Francisco for the day. After exploring the city a while, they decided to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. (Something I’ve always wanted to do myself actually.) Right in the middle of the bridge, Phillip stopped and told Lindsay he had a poem he wanted to read to her. When he got towards the end of it, he fumbled. He admitted that he must have forgotten to write down the ending, but that he thought he remembered most of it. He then got down on one knee and pulled the ring from his pocket. He finished the poem with “Lindsay Alicia Johnson, will you marry me?” (Anyone else just sigh? Because I totally did.) She said yes, by the way.

{Behind the Lens with the fabulous Kim of KimJMartin Photography} For me, engagement shoots are all about getting to know the couple. I ask them questions and talk to them as we go along to get a better idea of who they are as people, and as a couple. It’s also a great chance for them to get comfortable with me as well as in front of the camera. That way it’s not scary at all on the wedding day. I think a lot of people, especially guys, aren’t too excited about being photographed. But, in my experience, they always walk away saying, “Hey, that was actually really fun!” It’s all about goofing off and making it fun, and me just capturing that happening.

Each engagement shoot, I walk away with a better understanding of the couples’ personalities – what they are like as a couple and what they are like to photograph. With these two, we just ran all over the city and took a million pictures. It wasn’t hard at all to get them to warm up to the camera and just be themselves. Once that is accomplished, I like to just snap away and only throw out little cues when needed. My style is a mixture of portraiture and candid moments, so I normally just tell a couple where to stand and what to do, then just let it flow from there. I love creating a mixture of sassy, fashion inspired pictures along with loving and sweet images.

I photographed this couple last May. They wanted to have their engagement pictures taken in San Francisco for the scenery and because of the sentiment behind Phillip’s proposal. We walked to the exact spot on the Golden Gate Bridge where Phillip proposed and shot there. These two have such a great sense of humor and a lot of love for each other. That combined with the gorgeous background of San Francisco made for a fabulous day! I absolutely love this session because these two are so adorable together and they look just so ridiculously in love!

They do look ridiculously in love, don’t they? I know I’ll never be able to look at the Golden Gate Bridge again without thinking of these two and their love story. And when I finally make my way out to California some day, I’m sure I’ll remember them then too. This definitely goes down as one of my favorite engagement shoots that I’ve featured thus far! (This last photo is by far my favorite photo ever!) And I happen to have it on very good authority that we’ll be seeing their wedding day details very soon! ;)

A big thank you to the ridiculously sweet and talented Kim of KimJMartin Photography! Thank you so much for sharing Phillip and Lindsay’s love story with all of us! It’s an absolute pleasure to feature you and your work!

Have a fabulous Monday!

xoxo