Sound Beach Engagement Photos

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Krista & Matt’s Engagement Photos

Driving through the meandering roads of Sound Beach, Long Island, past the cottages and wooden fences, childhood memories of grandma’s house crept into my mind. This area on the north shore of Long Island, not quite “out east” and not quite “down port” [Port Jefferson], as Krista and Matt referred to it, is a mix of the beachy charm from Cape Cod combined with the vestiges of a simpler time. The chaotic network of the streets bend and shoot in all directions like the strings of a spider’s web as families wearing flip-flops with towels tossed over their shoulders casually make their way to the beach. 

When Heather, Capa, and I arrived a little early for our engagement session, Krista and Matt invited us into their home. I immediately noticed a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf packed with titles ranging from classics to postmodernist and felt the nerdy bookworm in me bubbling to the surface. I couldn’t help mentioning a collection of David Foster Wallace’s non-fiction work, A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments, because it means that either Matt or Krista took a deeper interest in the author of the infamously laborious work, Infinite Jest. It turns out Matt is an english teacher and we were off to a splendid start.

We piled into our respective cars as Matt and Krista led us to a private beach a few minutes away from their house. After descending a flight of steps that would make a stairmaster blush, we kicked off our shoes and walked onto the rocky and shell-laden beach. Krista and Matt moved with each other effortlessly, stopping every so often to bend down and pick up a piece of beach glass to add to Krista’s collection. They then busted out a wicker picnic basket complete with champagne and stemless flutes (with two for us!), and settled onto a blanket. They told us about their relationship’s beginning, a friendship turned romance, but got a little distracted when they remembered they also packed sparklers for the engagement shoot!

We love when our couples come prepared like Krista and Matt--props, champagne, beer, wine, picnic blankets--whatever makes you feel comfortable! Whatever makes you feel you. It’s easy to retreat back into your shell when the camera comes out, but this is why engagement sessions are so great: they give us a chance to get to know who you are before your wedding day. So by the time the big day arrives, when your family descends upon your location ready to test your patience, we know when to let you soak in those beautiful moments and when to pull you away for a breath of fresh air.

After taking their engagement photos in Sound Beach, we got to enjoy a nice dinner with Krista and Matt at one of their favorite local spots. We got to talking about Matt’s favorite book to teach (Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury!) and growing up on this part of the island with most of their family close by. Turns out Heather and I moved back to Northport for the same reason Matt and Krista see themselves staying around Sound Beach. Family visits become less of an obligation (in our case) and more of a welcome trip down memory lane.

Long Island Wedding Photography

Apollo Fields Wedding Photography | Husband and Wife Team | Colorado to New York

It has already been nine months since Heather and I moved back to East Northport, NY, from Arvada, Colorado, yet our friends in New York City still have no idea where we live. It’s almost like the 100 miles of Long Island that run from Manhattan to Montauk consist of nothing but the Hamptons and two major airports. Well consider this our PSA, roadmap, and directions to our home base in the void where we continue to host dinner parties and celebrate life in between our trips as traveling wedding photographers.

Northport, NY, is a small town on the northern shore of Long Island about an hour’s drive or train ride from New York City. It’s charm lives downtown near the harbor, resting in the breeze on one of the benches beneath a gazebo at the end of a long L-shaped dock.  During the winter, the moorings are vacant, but as spring and summer roll around, the narrow waterway becomes populated with boats and sunshine, families and dogs, and lots of homemade ice cream. There are a bunch of local restaurants, an amazing brewery (shoutout to Sand City Brewing), a small theater, and an inactive trolley line that runs down the center of the street, reminding us of simpler times. On a beautiful warm sunny day, the slightly salty breeze that sweeps through the town and into your nostrils is as relaxing as laying in a hammock as it gently sways in the wind.

Northport also happens to be my hometown, which means that around every corner lies some dormant memory of my adolescence. I drove by the movie theater where I had my first date the other day, and I remembered how I barely caught any of How the Grinch Stole Christmas because all I could think about was how to smoothly put my arm over my date’s shoulder (spoiler alert: I never did). Then there are the familiar, “oh, look at how much things have changed” moments that come with touring a place you used to know so well.  It’s a strange feeling that somehow brings me closer to the past as I gradually move away from it. And nowhere am I reminded just how far I’ve come then when I introduce Heather to an old acquaintance or family friend.

Experiencing Northport with Heather has reminded me why I married her and why we’re searching for a semi-rural farm wedding property to call a home. Suburban Long Island can feel very isolating at times, especially for young small business owners like ourselves, as most of our neighbors spend their entire lives riding the LIRR on their commute to New York City, leaving little energy to foster a sense of community outside of their children’s functions. So as a recently married childless couple, we have been struggling to find communities until we realized one of our greatest strengths is using our home to create one of our own. Hosting dinner parties is so ingrained in our relationship that we don’t even need to speak to each other as we prepare the meal and set up the table, we just move about our home like performers in perfect concert. There is no doubt that this is when I feel most comfortable, most at peace, and most in love with Heather.  

So if you didn’t know where we are, now you know.  All you have to do is take the LIRR from Penn Station to Northport and you can either walk to our front door or we can pick you up.  We invite you all to be part of our community as we move from home to home, connecting those around our dinner table one meal at a time. We are still shooting weddings in Colorado, Maine, upstate New York, New York City, Pennsylvania any anywhere that love calls, so feel free to reach out! Everyone is invited to our home (especially if you promise to bring us some local craft beer or whiskey), so come one come all, to the most recent home of Apollo Fields!

Cheers,
Terrence & Heather

P.S.
Let’s chat quickly about travel fees and where we can work as “locals”: For SURE, you won’t run into travel fees within a 40 mile radius of either 11731 or 80002 zip codes for your wedding. However, we also LOVE to travel and try to be as flexible as possible when it comes to hitting the road (or sky) to get to your event. Don’t be shy just because of distance! Reach out and tell us what you’ve got going on :)

Newborn Photography in Babylon, NY

Baby Shea | Lifestyle Newborn Session | Babylon, NY | Long Island Photographer | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography

It’s not often that I take on newborn sessions, but when I do, I really love them! Specializing in weddings was one of the best business decisions that I made, I love being able to target in on couples that I know I’m really going to connect with and have an awesome relationship with. My workflow is a well oiled machine and I’m really proud of the wedding business that we have.

But occasionally, a friend or a previous client will have a baby and I just can’t resist the opportunity to pull out my camera! I only do lifestyle newborns – no crazy props, no unnatural poses – just authentic family moments that capture the spirit of having a brand new baby in the house. Personally, I don’t like studio newborn (think garland, cheesecloths, flower crowns) and I find it sort of odd to prop a newborn babies head up as if I could do it on its own (it can’t). If you like those photos, power to you! Everyone gets to like what they like, it’s just not my jam. It’s also SUPER specialized and requires posing and lighting that’s just plain out of my wheelhouse.

What I can capture is lifestyle and I really love this approach. Somewhere between a casual session and documentary approach, I love watching new moms and dads settling into their routine and finding themselves as parents. This session was especially meaningful to me: It was for a good friend Jon and his lovely wife Jen. You might recognize their faces since I also captured their engagement session and wedding years ago!! It has been so fun watching them move through different chapters of their lives in the photographs and it is such an honor to be trusted with these images.

In January of 2018 they welcomed their first baby into the world – a son that they named Shea Edward. They decided to let the sex of the baby be a surprise and I still remember the feeling of excitement that I got when Jon sent me the patented “proud dad” text and photo when Shea was first born! I was eager to capture this time in their lives and as soon as we were back in Long Island we set up a session. We began the afternoon just relaxing and gushing over Shea, and then I began shooting away. We were lucky to be able to incorporate Jon’s parents who were visiting to help out with the new baby, too. It is their first grandchild so they are positively smitten!

I love these photos because this time goes by so quickly. Babies change practically overnight and before you know it, they are tiny little adults. I loved capturing the little features, the hands and toes, the baby hair, the little wrinkly soft skin, because I know that Jen and Jon will always be brought back to all of these details in the years to come when they look at the photos. So even though this session was a little break from my busy wedding season, it was such a welcome one and I’ll always treasure these photos!

Photography: Apollo Fields

Location: Babylon, NY

Zarit's Family Session in Long Island, NY

Long Island Family Photography | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers | NYC Families | Outdoor Photo Session Ideas | Paint Guns

I love photographing this sweet family and have been lucky to get to shoot them throughout the years! Watching their little girls grow up in the photos is so much fun. They have such a fun and sweet bond and I’ve always clicked with them. This session was great because it was a balmy New York evening and then sun was just starting to set. We went for a nature walk and kept the everything really light and fun. With little kiddos especially, I prefer to keep things moving and active instead of trying to get them to pose or hold still for traditional portraits. Also, I feel like you get a much more wholistic sense of their personalities when we allow them to stay on the move and do fun stuff together!

Zarit had a great idea to do paint guns after we got the “clean” shots and of course I was on board! I haven’t used them before but I’ll admit I was a little jealous because they looked like SO much fun. I could see the girls eyes just lighting up as soon as they were getting unwrapped and I knew then that we were in for a treat!

Shortly after, the paint started flying. The whole family had a fun and wild paint gun war and they just kept laughing and laughing. I loved the paint colors they picked out and how fun their clothes popped against the golden light! I think one of my favorite parts of the session was once they were all out of paint and about to leave (the girls were excited to head out for their promised ice-cream outing since they behaved) they went out and sat on the dock together. They sat with their arms over each other (totally un-posed) and just giggled and whispered together like the adults didn’t matter at all. They watched the bugs zoom over the surface of the water and tried to make splashes even though their legs wouldn’t reach— how sweet! It reminded me of my own childhood, sitting out my the water as the summer sun set when everything seemed possible. I love watching the world through kid’s eyes again like this and it’s definitely my favorite part of doing family sessions.

Photography: Apollo Fields
Location: Northport, NY