My history with Anat stretches far, far back. After seeing the engagement photos of my previous clients Amber and Vicente she referred her older brother Yoav to me for engagement photos. I met her boyfriend (then fiance, now husband) Jay at Amber and Vicente's wedding where they were tearing up the dance floor.

Anat and Jay brought me to the almost obnoxiously picturesque Inn at Dos Brisas. On the drive there we had plenty of time to talk about their wedding plans (they had wedding events in both Jerusalem and here in Houston) and get a feel for their personalities. The grounds at Dos Brisas allowed us plenty of options for great photos and even an opportunity for Anat, who loves horses, to interact with the other tenants of the property. ;-)

A few images from their engagement session:

Sometimes when you first meet a couple you just know that you're going to make magic together. The feeling is rare but I definitely got it when I met this wonderful couple. And of course, as I told them plenty of times, they are easy on the eyes. But the magic I was feeling came from their welcoming and fun-loving personalities. We started their engagement session at Dara's father's home in Sugar Land and continued on to the Montrose area. Here are just a few:

I met Erica & Jan through another couple who will be gracing these blog pages soon, Anat & Jay. As a photographer, it's always exciting to explore new nooks and crannies in your area and also to find new excitement in familiar areas. Well we were able to do both when I met this couple for their pre-wedding photos in Houston. They have amazing chemistry and the photos we were able to make are a direct result of that.

While going through some images this afternoon I came across another of my favorite engagmeent sessions that I hadn't shared on this blog yet. Here are some of my favorites from Mayra & Fernando enagement session a while back (they're actually getting ready to celebrate their anniversary soon!).

Alma was a guest at Becky and Kris' wedding back in 2009. Fast forward and she and her fiance (now husband) Eivind were planning their destination wedding in Puerto Rico but needed engagement photos. They decided they would take photos in their new home of New Orleans and in their google search they came across one image they thought was pretty striking. When they realized that the creator of that photo happened to be the wedding photographer of their good friends' wedding they decided it was meant to be.

It was great to be back in New Orleans—a city that always puts me in a creative mood. I loved taking them through their favorite bars and spots in New Orleans and of course no trip to the Big Easy would be complete without visiting the French Quarter.

Here is a set from their session.

While Jyotsna and Shailesh were getting married in Houston they were living in New York at the time. After discussing it with them, it was obvious that their new city held a special place in their hearts and it made more sense to photograph their engagement photos there instead.

We started out in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and then transitioned to the more urban areas of the city. Here are a few of their engagement photos to tide you over until I (finally) share their wedding photos on the blog as well:

Much like the couple in the last blog entry, Funke and Wole were getting married in Nigeria and wanted some engagement photos in Houston prior to the big day. Here's a look back at our session.

Here are some engagement photos I took of this couple as we took some casual photos prior to their wedding in Nigeria. We transitioned from photos with a very causal, daytime feel to an evening one. Enjoy!

Going into the archives today to share some images I've always been meaning to post on the blog: an engagement session with Kunbi and Olamide.

I was fortunate that Kunbi made Dami's acquaintance and that led to us working together. I also thought I'd mention that Kunbi now has a lovely planning blog here.

I will also (finally) share their wedding photos on the blog soon but here is a sample of what we came up in downtown Orlando on a fall day...

The post for their wedding photos will be following this one shortly but in the meantime here are a few photos from our time together when we met up for the engagement session in downtown Houston.

I met Uzo (who is also known as Xavier to friends) in high school and we've become great friends. When it was time to photograph engagement photos with his fiancee (now wife) LaTisha I wanted to make sure they had a chance to enjoy a fun time way from the usual wedding planning mania. We happened to take a few photos during the process as well. ;)

I usually tell my clients that their job during an engagement session is a lot tougher than mine--I just have to press a button here and there while they have to be active and entertain my ideas.

And on some days that's harder to do than others--it was a triple digit temperature day in Dallas when I met up with Ife and Sina. Despite the heat and humidity (it was still almost 90 degrees when the night came) they did a great job of enjoying themselves while we were out shooting.

They will be getting married this fall so I'll be looking forward to hitting I-45 again to see them.

Here is a small sample of the day's take:

Just over a year ago I photographed Dami and Niyi's engagement photos in New Orleans and it was one of my most memorable times making images of a couple.

Yemi, Niyi's brother, is getting married himself this year and his fiancee, Jazmine were able to produce their own magic in front of the camera. Their natural chemistry kicked in mere seconds after I lifted the camera up to my face—it was really incredible.

We started off at CityCentre, migrated our way over to Uptown Park, then quickly went by RDG + Bar Annie (where Yemi proposed to Jazmine). Then finally we returned back to CityCentre and I convinced them to let me grab a few more photos by their car.

Here are just a few of the great photos we made that day:

In a few weeks, I'll be photographing Megan and Mark's wedding, so I wanted to share some photos from their engagement session late last year. We worked our way down I-45 and took some photos on the beach in Galveston. We also had a special guest--their dog, Jax. His presence cranked up the energy early and it payed off as they ended up being very comfortable in front of the camera. :) The weather in the fall is much less volatile than other months and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon which transitioned to evening. I can't wait to see them again as I'm sure they'll be an even more joyful mood.

Here are just a few favorites:

Eric is an awesome photographer and a great guy I've had the privilege of knowing for the past 2 years. He's also helped me deliver some great photographs for my clients--working with people so talented motivates you to push your game to a new level--and his presence has definitely done that for me.

Recently I had the pleasure of hanging out with him and his fiancée, Carrie. I had such a great time talking and catching up with them I almost forgot we were there to take photos. ;) Their chemistry is great and I fed off of their energy to produce the photos below. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them again soon. Thanks for making me look good guys!

A few months ago I traveled to the heart of Who Dat nation to share an awesome day with one of my favorite couples, Dami + Niyi. Since they are going to be married soon, it's time to get these photos onto the blog!

Though these two live in New York now, New Orleans is very special to them. Dami was in school there but moved to Houston as a result of Hurricane Katrina where she met Niyi.

We spent the day hitting several spots in the Big Easy including areas where the graffiti artist Banksy had been busy. It was my first exposure to his work and I was surprised at how well-known the artist is after doing more research on him. It goes without saying we had to incorporate a bit of his work into the session. :)

We continued our tour of the city where I followed them as they 2nd-lined, hit the French Quarter (where we enjoyed beignets at Cafe du Monde), and finished the night on Canal street.

Here are a few images from their awesome engagement session: