Harlem NYC Engagement Photos

Lizzie & Rob | Harlem Engagement Session | NYC Engagements 

When you walk in New York City you get lost in the crowd, paradoxically providing you an opportunity to assert yourself as an individual.  The sheer population density of the five boroughs is a marvel to contemplate, a frustration to endure; it is your license to be loud and a soundboard for your creativity.  Some perish in the gutters while others shine on Broadway, but it all comes down to your will and the company you find yourself in.

Rob & Lizzie find themselves in good company.  They act and play and laugh. They smile. They bring happiness to others at Touch Performance Art. They're just another couple faces in the NYC crowd but they stand out because they use their freedom to perform the dialogue in their hearts.  You can’t fake that kind of happiness.

Heather and I met not too far from where Rob & Liz’s engagement pictures were taken, but for months we shared the same sidewalks as strangers.  Close proximity doesn’t promise connection, you have to seek it out for yourself. I remember the first night I got Heather’s number she almost walked away from me in shy embarrassment, but I didn’t let her get away.  I yelled “your phone number would be great for something like that” after she turned her back when I told her that I’d love to see her again.  Happiness like Rob & Liz and Heather & I have is a reward for our respective self-expressions.

  When I think of love I think of two people who can’t help being themselves, embracing the most positive sides of their identities and celebrating them.  When we shoot a wedding it is clear as day which couples have this brand of relationship because their vibes reverberate through all of those in attendance.  It all stems from an honesty to themselves and each other, asserting their identities as individuals and as a couple.

New York City can make you or break you but it’s obvious that Rob & Lizzie will make it.  They are the walking paradoxes meandering through the collage of people crowding the sidewalks of Manhattan.  They are the ones smiling and laughing, working hard and loving harder.

These guys didn't miss a beat.  We popped a few beers and brown-bagged them in the park.  They brought water guns, bubbles, and a lasso.  Rob successfully lassoed Lizzie on his first try... did I mention they are performers?  It's SO MUCH FUN to photograph people in the entertainment industry.  They weren't shy or bashful, rather they were animated and theatrical and treated their engagement session like the biggest performance on Broadway.

We wrapped the session under the NYC lights in Harlem, dancing into the headlights of the traffic, with people buzzing by and taxis nearly running us over for their epic dip under the bridge.  We even ran into a mutual friend on the street!  It was in every way the best that New York has to offer, and reminded me of why this city will always be my city.  

NYC Engagement Photography: Apollo Fields

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

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