Jul 22

Jul 22 Gravelly Point Park Engagement Session - Christa and Jacob

There are few things that bring a photographer more joy than to photograph the joy of a close friend. I was thrilled when Christa and Jacob asked me to photograph their wedding in Fall 2018 and especially excited on the day of their engagement shoot!

Christa worked in the Catholic Campus Ministry at Marymount University while I was a student there. She's a kind, thoughtful, goofy, adorable person so I was so happy for her when she started dating Jacob, and when I heard they were engaged.

We started our shoot at St. Stephen Catholic Church in DC, where Christa and Jacob go to mass together frequently, and the area around the church where there was plenty of quiet but urban settings for photos.

A young couple touch foreheads sitting in the pews at St Stephen Catholic Church in Washington DC

A simple diamond engagement ring on the finger of a young woman holding her fiance’s hand outside in washington, dc

A young woman riding piggyback on her fiance kissing him as he smiles at the camera in washington, dc

A young woman riding piggyback on her fiance as both smile at the camera in washington, dc

Black and white of a man sitting on a ledge kissing the forehead of his fiancee standing below him

A young couple walking together as they hold hands and she puts her head on his shoulder on the sidewalk in washington, dc

After we wandered DC a bit, we drove over to Gravelly Point Park in Virginia. It was an early date spot for the two of them and we even re-created their cozy date of sitting on a picnic table, wrapped in a blanket, watching the planes fly over as they land at Reagan National Airport. It's especially fitting, as Jacob travels for work a lot and their periods of separation definitely helped bring them closer together as they managed long-distance for a big portion of their relationship; now they get to be together with the very symbol of what kept them apart.

A young couple holding hands and looking at each other as they walk through gravelly point park in arlington, virginia

A young couple hold hands as they walk through gravelly point park in arlington, virginia

A young couple kiss while wrapped in a colorful blanket sitting on a picnic table at gravelly point park in washington, dc

A young woman holds out her hand with a diamond engagement ring while her fiance embraces her and kisses her cheek at gravelly point park in arlington, virginia

A young couple embrace with their foreheads together as a plane flies over at gravelly point park in arlington, virginia

I'll definitely be returning to Gravelly Point Park for another shoot! It was a challenge to fight the crowds on a warm Sunday afternoon, but can you get any cooler than an airplane landing in the background?

Let me know what you think in the comments!