What better way to spend part of your visit to New York City than having a portrait session in Central Park? I had never seen the park before (unless movies count), so I was super excited to not only adventure around with my friend, but also photograph someone in the amazing space. It is seriously a photographer's dream park since there are fancy bridges, beautiful backdrops, and blooming flowers everywhere. Every time I thought I had found the most awesome location to photograph Karen in, we would walk five steps and there would be another breath-taking area. If it wasn't so dangerous and probably illegal, I think we would have spent the entire night in the park. Apart from all of the fantastic statues and buildings, there was one place that Karen really wanted to find: Madeline Kahn's memorial bench. We started searching as soon as we entered the park, but quickly realized that every bench is a memorial bench or named after a donating family. We had a quick moment of defeat, but by some stroke of rare luck, we soon stumbled upon an empty bench that exhibits the faded plaque of the late great Madeline Kahn. It was pretty cool how we both felt this invisible guide to the area :). I think the best part for Karen, though was seeing The Nanny's establishing shot house and getting some very pretty photos in front of it. A lady who lives across the street even came over and...

Rain on your wedding is something that you don't even want to think about for fear that you may be jinxing the day. I totally get it, because when we were planning ours, we avoided any and all mention of rain. So what did I do when I checked the 10-day weather report and saw the little stormy cloud graphic? Well, first I cried, and then I got to planning. Besides marrying each other (which is number one on the priority list, no matter what), photos were important to us. We wanted to take advantage of the grounds at our amazing venue, so we came up with a photo rain plan. We purchased a clear umbrella to use, and started researching rainy wedding photos. Shawn's parents even took a trip to Ikea and got us tons of towels, bridal party umbrellas, and a blanket that I could put the train of my dress on so that it didn't get muddy. We were ready, and the fact that we were so prepared made all of the emotions that that tiny, evil rain cloud held completely disappear. When a couple ask me "what if it rains?" I let them know that rain just means we have to be a little more creative with their portraits. As a photographer, I'm glad to be challenged and to be in situations that aren't perfect . It's being able to produce beautiful images in a situation that isn't ideal that makes me feel proud of...