Whitney Lewis Photography » Engagement

Cute and casual

Whitney — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:28:42 +0000

Here’s just a few quick picks from a recent engagement shoot. Jamie and Peter are a fun, casual couple, and as it turns out Peter was actually my brother-in-law Mike’s roommate a couple of years ago. Living in Utah can be such a small world, as everyone seems to know everyone else one way or another. It was kind of funny though- near the beginning of the shoot Peter says to me in a low voice “Wow, I almost didn’t recognize Mike with that beard on.” I look at him confused for a second, and then make the connection. I laughed and pointed out that it was his brother.

I love all the gold colors in this next one.

Swings and rings

Whitney — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:25:16 +0000

If you’ve been following the blog long enough, you may remember the not-quite-engagement-shoot I did for Mike and Lindsey last year. Weeeell, as it turns out they went to their favorite park a while ago after a nice dinner, and while Lindsey was on the swing Mike got down on one knee and said “Well why don’t we just get this ring on your finger and go home.” Romantic, no?

They’re getting married August 14th in Portland, Oregon. Watch for bridals, and later photos from the wedding.

You can’t quite tell from the photos, but there was a crazy windstorm going on for the whole engagement shoot.

This captures my brother-in-law and his fiancee pretty accurately.

Here’s a link to the full gallery.

Erin and Cole

Whitney — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 06:40:08 +0000

Thomas and I went on a drive location scouting one day, hoping to find something really special. We decided to head on out to Saratoga Springs, and we found some really gorgeous rustic waterside nature spots. It was a few weeks before the weather cooperated and I found a couple that when scheduling engagements said they’d like to try it out. We ended up hitting a few other places we spotted on the way out there as well. We’re spontaneous like that. Oh yeah.

I am a huge sucker for the huge reeds you get around water like this….

Happiness is smooches on the cheek, didn’t you know?

So much light in this photo, both physical and emotional.

You should check out the rest of the photos here as they become available.

Janet and Adam

Whitney — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:53:24 +0000

Things have been so busy! I’ve been averaging about 4 or 5 shoots a week, and finally got around to putting up some of these engagement photos up taken at Lehi Main St.

You can see more here.

Brooklyn and Kagan

Whitney — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:54:41 +0000

The Harley Davidson store in Lindon is one of those locations that I always drove by and said to myself “Oooh I really should shoot there sometime.” I even suggested it once or twice to a couple of different clients, but it never really seemed to pan out. So when we got a really beautiful clear day for Brooklyn and Kagan’s engagement session I suggested we start there before we headed on over to the park we had planned to finish out at. I am so glad we did! Lots of really fun architecture to play around with, and some awesomely rich colors and textures for the background. We did get a couple of funny looks from the huge Harley guys as they walked in and out of the store, but we had a blast.

Kagan is a film student who works as a computer engineer/software guy, and he had a wonderfully dry sense of humor, so he kept us (and especially Brooklyn!) laughing most of the time. I like it when my clients make sure their smiles are genuine on their own- it makes for a lot more natural picture when you’re laughing your head off.

These girders were so awesome to play with…

Looking back at these, I think maybe the only times Brooklyn wasn’t laughing were when she was kissing Kagan. :)

Like I said, we had some fun with the girders….

You know, I love color and I love light. Photos like this next one remind me why I love photography so much.

Click here for more photos of Brooklyn and Kagan.

Sunshine, Smiles, Sunsets, and FIREWORKS!

Erin and Todd

Whitney — Sat, 29 May 2010 07:55:54 +0000

Every once in a while I get a couple that no matter where we are and when we shoot it doesn’t matter- I just get awesome photo after awesome photo. For this engagement session we had planned originally to start off at Wheeler Farm and then head on up to Saltair. Erin and Todd were just so natural in front of the camera, and we kept working so well together that time flew by and before we knew it we had spent much more time than expected at Wheeler Farm. Thus, we headed on up to Liberty Park to finish up the engagements.

I love their style, and both were just wonderful to deal with. I’ve really gotten some fantastically easy-going clients recently. :)

While at Liberty Park we had a visitor. I’ve been shooting for a while, but I don’t think I’ve ever been photobombed by a waterfowl before.

Some of the colors we were getting were almost like Fall. It made for some really rich backgrounds…

Some tender moments at the most photographed truck in Utah…. :)

The blues in this next one just felt right…

While I put in more photos than normal, I really didn’t scratch the surface of the awesomeness contained in their gallery. Check out more of my favorites here.

Renae and Kenny- Fun in the Sun

Whitney — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:55:24 +0000

It’s funny…

When I first started out as a photographer, my ideal day to shoot was overcast weather, because I didn’t have to worry about any harsh shadows or bad lighting- I could just shoot. Now I find myself grumbling when the sky is too cloudy and I have a shoot planned, because I can’t get the yummy rim lighting or play with my reflectors the way I want to.

Renae and Kenny won a free engagement shoot by attending a recent bridal fair where I had a booth, and they were so easy to work with when we set up the session I ended up turning the shoot into a mini-workshop for my interns as we took the photos. For this shoot, we decided to go for some of the most difficult lighting situations we could find and started shooting at noon (LOTS of bright sunshine that day, and the corresponding risk of overly harsh shadows ). We played around with different bits of shade we could find, different types and kinds of reflectors, and a little bit of flash. Both Renae and Kenny were awesome to work with, and didn’t miss a beat when focusing on each photographer- you would have thought they were seasoned models! :)

So both my interns, Justin and Valor, got a great rundown on shooting in midday sun, and our happy couple got some extra variety in the shots and subsequently some great pictures. It was a good day.

The orange on this building was awesome- very cool find in Provo.

So much texture in the corrugated steel. Love it!

Check out some more picks in the gallery here.

Jenna and Ben

Whitney — Thu, 06 May 2010 04:17:53 +0000

I met Jenna while wedding dress shopping with my future sister-in-law-in-law. (fiancee of my brother-in-law, that works right?) Due to the fact I was going to be in Oakland the day before their wedding and couldn’t get a flight up to Portland that would work we weren’t to make wedding coverage happen, but I’m glad we were able to get engagements done.

I love the rim lighting on this one… gives such a such a warm feel to the scene.

Sometimes I tell my clients “Ok, now just pretend I’m not here for a moment.” Be careful what you wish for, I guess…. ;)

Jessica and Casey’s Marathon Engagement Session

Whitney — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:38:07 +0000

Meet Jessica and Casey.

I knew we were going to get along and that we were going to get some truly awesome pictures pretty much as soon as I met them. I think it was about the moment that they explained to me with a grin that as Jessica’s last name is “Terribilini” and Casey’s last name is “Skankey” their wedding was ultimately going to be a “Terribly Skanky” wedding. Yes, I thought to myself, I think we’re going to be able to work together juuuust fine. :)

I think I must have been fated to shoot their wedding. Jessica’s sister is also engaged, and had contacted me a month or so before Jessica asking if I could shoot her wedding. She had found me through Facebook ads and liked my style. Unfortunately I was already booked for that day, but was able to recommend a very good friend to photograph their wedding. I guess in the spirit of “if at first you don’t succeed” the powers that be lead Jessica to my site, completely independent of her sister and unknowing that she had tried to book me, and we were able to sign a contract- thus paving the way for the sweet sweet photographic goodness you find before you.

Now something you probably already know about me is that I don’t charge by the hour. There are several reasons why, among them simplicity in terms of pricing, the opportunity to be there as long as I need to to get that one perfect shot to capture your day, and the flexibility to deal with craziness in schedules and mishaps along the way. That being said, engagement and bridal sessions still only last anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours on average- mainly because not too many brides and grooms really want to be in front of a camera for longer than that. However, I am always ready and raring to do anything my clients want, and while talking with Casey and Jessica about engagements it quickly became apparent that they were up for a bit more than the norm.

Thus, I present to you… (drumroll, please) the Marathon Engagement Session. We started out at Wheeler Farm, then headed to a location west of Salt Lake City off the freeway, and finished up at Salt Air. I took over 1000 photos and the shoot lasted over 5 hours. Fun was had by all. I still haven’t quite finished editing all of them, but I have put up a gallery of some of my picks from the session. Be sure and check them out here.

Remember the teaser post I put up a couple weeks ago? Yeah, these skies were AMAZING!

The colors just kept getting better as it got later.

They were such a pleasure to work with. I love happy people, which is why I love weddings!

I loved these stalks and reed thingys, you could just see how they moved in the wind- gorgeous setting.

Yeah, we got along fine.

Jenny and Josh

Whitney — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:25:57 +0000

We met up in Sugar House with Jenny and Josh to shoot their engagement photos last week, and it was a lot of fun to hang out with them both. Jenny served in Oakland on an LDS mission at the same time as my sister Jasmine, and so it was entertaining to hear her tell stories about Jaz as we worked… after all, a sister always needs more ammunition. :)

After we were done, we were able to head on over to Smashburger for dinner, which was awesome. I love being able to just sit and talk with my clients, as I usually feel like they are good friends of mine after a shoot. Engagement and Bridal sessions are wonderful for getting comfortable with each other before the wedding day, but nothing quite beats just sitting around talking over games or a good meal. Plus, the rosemary and garlic fries at Smashburger were delicious.

I loved the reds in this one…