Montauk NY Engagement Photographers
Bri & Tyler’s Engagement Session | Montauk NY | The Hamptons Destination Weddings | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers
An early evening summer breeze coming off the Atlantic reminds the Montauk locals of the sun and the salt on their skin, but that same breeze that warms a beach bum’s heart can chill a Texan to the bone. A kind memory of home to Bri is a reminder to Tyler just how far he is from his, but come October 2020 their families will join to celebrate their love in a half-homegrown, half-destination wedding.
Many would consider it a luxury to grow up in a destination wedding town, embracing the lifestyle and culture that seems as light as a day on the beach. Others might say that the summer months that bring tourists and city slickers who clog the one road, two-lane streets like the sidewalks in Manhattan are killing their vibes. The reality is that the sun shines no matter what and despite the traffic we are all going to enjoy our drink of choice on the beach for one reason or another.
For Bri, hosting her wedding in Montauk will be like having her own personal welcoming parade of family and neighbors, smiling faces lining either side of the aisle like a beach version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. While Tyler and his family, although no strangers to coastal waters, will mostly likely be dipping their toes into the Atlantic a bit more timidly than they do in the Gulf of Mexico. The thing about the locations of weddings is—whether a new or familiar experience—the love in the room is all the same.
Weddings offer us wonderful opportunities to connect with groups of people we might not speak to in our daily lives. Too often our occupations and locations restrict us to familiar routines that can limit our world experience, but when love is the accepted common ground all conversations and connections are possible. There is simply no space for judgment when love is in the air. Breathe it in, take it in, and clink glasses with someone you might otherwise not meet.
Heather and I are so lucky to share these spaces in places all over the world, snapping photos and writing down all of the emotions that we see. I’ve said before that our emotions are our secrets until we share them with someone, but on wedding days most people wear them as proudly as their finest suit or most elegant dress. Restraining the contents of our hearts would be like putting those garments back in the closet and throwing on the wrinkled clothes that adorn the floor. Instead we see tears trickle down cheeks like rain down window panes and eyes well up like dams that are about to burst.
A forum to express the version of ourselves that is too often buttoned up and hidden away is one of the many reasons that make our jobs more than an occupation or service. According to our tax documents we are wedding photographers, but according to ourselves we are photojournalists who never settle for the surface, always scanning the room for people to show us the best version of themselves.
Enjoy these pics from Bri & Tyler’s Montauk Engagement Session:
Hi! We’re Terrence & Heather…
…we are the husband-and-wife duo of Apollo Fields! Thanks for checking out Bri & Tyler’s engagement photos. We are so stoked to shoot their 2020 Wedding at Gosman’s Dock in Montauk!
Standley Lake Arvada Photographer
Erica & Matt's Romantic Engagement Session | Standley Lake, Arvada | Colorado Engagement Photography | Adventure Wedding Photographer | Rocky Mountain Photos | Apollo Photojournalism
Erica and Matt had an epic engagement session showered with beautiful golden light. It was a photographer's dream! As I was driving to Standley Lake, I could see the sun getting closer to the horizon and I knew we had timed the session perfectly. We snagged some fun family shots of them with their two children dirt biking, which is one of their favorite things to do together. The kids had a blast and hammed up the camera, making my job easy as we just hung out together snapping pics.
I love when my couples bring their kiddos along to engagement sessions! It makes the kids feel like they are a part of the wedding and they feel like an important part of the family. Plus, the pics are so cute! After we did their lifestyle shots, the kids ran around the lake and Erica and Matt changed into their formalwear. Her red dress was the perfect pop to the dramatic landscape.
I just adore the emotion and movement in these photos! I look at their gallery and I feel like I really know who Erica and Matt are just by the love they have for each other, and the sweet way that they play with one another and how happy their kids are.
We had such a great time enjoying the beautiful views while the sun set, and I got to snap away while Erica and Matt loved up on each other. I always encourage my couples to take advantage of an engagement session, even if they don't feel like they "need" it, it's a great chance to get in front of my camera and gives them a chance to feel comfortable working with me. Plus, I think it's actually really fun. My couples will often tell me before our session how they don't like having their photos taken, or that they feel awkward in front of the camera, or they promise me that they are un-photogenic.
One of my brides for this season gave me a half-smile and just said, "good luck" to me when she got in front of my camera for her engagement photos. I love a challenge, so I secretly got really excited when she thought she wouldn't look good in any of her pictures. My favorite part is delivering the galleries and then getting their feedback. "Oh my god, I don't know how you did it", she exclaimed! "I'm speechless".
Hearing that kind of excitement from clients who don't think they photograph well is what I love so much about my job. Everyone deserves to have photos that they love and are proud of!
Colorado Adventure Photography: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Photo
Location: Standley Lake | Arvada, CO
Wes & Chelsea's Breckenridge Engagement Session in Colorado
Chelsea & Wes' Engagement Photography in Breckenridge | Colorado Engagement Photography | Mountain Wedding Photographer | Apollo Fields Weddings
What could be dreamier than a wintery snowy engagement session in the beautiful Rockies!? Breckenridge is best known for being a popular ski town in Colorado and gets a lot of tourism in the winter months. Chelsea and Wes were visiting from their hometown in Texas to celebrate and I was so excited to be able to shoot their engagements for them in this iconic ski town.
The town of Breckenridge is really settled around the slopes but makes it very easy to get around. There are cute little coffee shops, bars, and shopping stores to pop in and out of. We did our session down by the little river that runs through the town from all of the snow runoff. We were lucky to have a snowy day but nothing too severe.
I actually blew my tire out on the way to this session when a rockslide on i-70 came barreling down onto the highway. I was busy dodging the smaller rocks when I hit the mac-daddy of boulders and immediately popped the tire. I was stressing out because I knew I had to get up to this session and luckily, Terrence was able to throw the donut on the car and we drove to a little mechanic shop in Georgetown and the guy was able to hammer it out and refill the tire (he originally thought it wouldn’t be salvageable so you can imagine my excitement when we got back on the road for only $20)!
I was still able to get up to Breck on time (the benefit of leaving ridiculously early for shoots) and meet up with this fun loving couple. These two had such a great and easy chemistry with one another that made this wintery session a blast to photograph. It was chilly but they never once complained, and one of my favorite things about the dry cold in the mountains is that the snow doesn’t get heavy and soaked through your pants so it is easy to stay happy without needing a wardrobe change!
I can’t recommend this location more to anyone visiting Colorado and love to shoot in this cozy mountain town so please reach out to set up your own engagement and/or wedding in this great ski town!
Colorado Engagement Photographer: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Photojournalism
Alex & Rae's International Wedding in New York State
Alex & Ragnhild's New York State Wedding | International Weddings | NYC Wedding Photography | Norwegian Dancers | Apollo Photojournlism
I met Alex on the Upper West Side in NYC at a restaurant. We got to chatting at the bar and I told him that I was a photographer, and as it turned out, he was engaged to his fiancé Ragnhild and looking for a wedding photographer. After talking a while longer, we realized that we had quite a few mutual friends from the neighborhood, and it all fell into place right after that.
Alex is a personal trainer and a former professional basketball player. He met Rae on the court, when her professional dancing career took her to one of his games. Rae and her daughter, Denise, were from Norway and literally packed up their lives to live in New York City with Alex. They have such a loving and playful relationship that made my job so easy!
Their wedding day kicked off with the guys hitting the basketball court, which was a fun alternative to traditional wedding mornings. Terrence was out there playing with the groomsmen, and it really reminded me of how much fun we have on our wedding days! The ceremony was officiated by a friend, who spoke of them so eloquently that it made me cry behind the camera. Yes, I still get emotional when I shoot!
The reception was one of my favorites to date. Rae's bridesmaids were all on her dancing squad and had planned a secret dance special for the couple. A room full of professional Norwegian dancers is just as much fun as it sounds. Oh my god they were talented! It was such a great party.
The importance of memories:
When you’re in a particular industry long enough, it’s easy to forget the importance of your job. You wake up on Monday, meet deadlines, schedule future goals, work through the drudgery, finish the week, and if you’re lucky, do it all over again on the following Monday. Wedding photojournalism is no exception.
Then, once in a while something happens, something that jars you out of your automatic work setting and you take a step back. Sometimes it’s good news like a family member is having a baby and other times it’s something tragic like someone has passed away. Whatever the case may be your life is drastically different than what it was just a few days before.
One of the defining things about wedding photojournalism is that we capture particular moments in our client’s lives where happiness and celebration are center stage. We have the luxury to see people at their best, laughing among their family and friends, assuming the roles they’ve carved out their who lives by sharing the stories that have made them into the persons they’ve become. When things inevitably change in their lives in the months or years that follow, we watch their stories unfold through the photos we’ve taken and we’re drawn right back to the happiness of that day.
Each story we relive is a jarring reminder of the unpredictability of life and the importance that weddings hold in bringing people together, rekindling relationships, and the celebration of love and happiness. From budding romances to lost love ones, our photos travel across time, telling our present selves the story of our past, hugging our hearts with tangible memories and familiar feelings. It’s borderline wizardry how our inanimate pens and lenses can animate our past so vividly.
As wedding photojournalists we professionally tell love stories, but it’s as friends that we remember our client’s personally. Connecting with you all is what makes us remember that our jobs are important and our happiness immemorial. Thank you for your love.
New York State Wedding Photographer: Apollo Photojournalism | Erny Photo CO