Eno River Park Engagement | Durham, NC | Andrea and Jose
Andrea and Jose's Eno River Park engagement was just another reason I love getting in any photo time with a couple before their wedding. It's just a great opportunity to see how the couple will interact, how we vibe as a group and what they are comfortable or uncomfortable with, or you can read here for more of my thoughts on why you should have an engagement session. Add to that the minimal time crunch, as compared to a wedding day, and it is generally just a really relaxing and fun time.
But what I really love is the unexpected. How does each couple interact with one another? Will it be natural? Will it be silly? Will it be loving? Will it be a mix? Will it be something I have never even seen?
From the get go, it was so clear the connection these two have with one another. It is such a strong bond built on support for one another, that their goals are aligned. These are two people who tried their hands at big city life in San Francisco and realized they prefer it to be a bit more rural and made the change together to "come home." And the quickly noticed fact that they can't keep their hands off each other was a tell tale sign too!
Being that they love the country and the outdoors so much, we decided an Eno River Park engagement shoot would be perfect. So we met up in Hillsborough for a quick couple of drinks at King Street Bar (unless my couple doesn't drink, I always highly encourage a frosty adult libation or some bubbly before we get started, cause bubbles makes everything better!), and then headed off to Eno River Park, which is one of my favorite spots in Hillsborough/Durham to shoot, just check out this romantic in-home session that took us to the Eno and this Eno River engagement session on the Durham side
It was an insanely gorgeous evening and even from the parking lot I could see some great spots of light for us to play with, and so we made our way around. Though we very quickly learned that we weren't the only ones who were enjoying the park that night...it was a mosquito free for all. While I have definitely been in worse situations with mosquitoes (mid-summer in Charleston, SC comes to mind for one), we were all getting eaten alive, but just another thing to love about Andrea and Jose was that they were willing to run it out with me, and I think we were rewarded for our time.
I usually find myself helping couples find the balance between forced and natural positions, but Andrea and Jose just did everything so naturally that all I had to do was put them in the right light and let things play out and they did so perfectly!
Afterwards, we headed to their house to get a few more photos, enjoy a beer and they even put on this playlist I had created and shared on Spotify that they were liking (good beer, good music, good people...what more can you ask for in life, let alone when you're working!). I got to meet their pups as well as a kitten they had rescued.
Now if you know me, you know that I do not have a love or even a like for cats. I am a dog lover through and through, but even their kitten made the final edits! I have a feeling that Jose will be taking on many more animals over their lifetime together.
This was one of those relaxed, easy going sessions that just blows me away and in the moments during the session have me so excited to the point where I start to squeal. It's where everything just goes so right, even though there was no real plan at all.
And if you like these photos below, just wait until you see their wedding! Stay tuned for that as it will be coming out in a few weeks!
Love the feel and look of Andrea and Jose's engagement session? Thinking about getting engagement photos done as well? I would love to talk to you...even if you like cats.