Kei+Justin // Couple Portraits

Kei and Justin have been dating for almost four years and wanted to capture some pictures of themselves and their relationship right now, just as it is, for no reason other than they love each other and want to remember this time in their lives. So they booked us for a session and we met them in a park a few days after Hurricane Matthew (our original lakeside location had be completely wiped out in a massive flood). Kei is an early childhood education teacher and Justin is in law enforcement, but despite Justin being a police officer, he’s just as light-hearted and sweet as Kei is, and together they’re two seriously kind people. They are really cuddly, really cute, and love each other a ton. And you kind of can’t help but get wrapped into their adorable looooove!

Although they went to the same high school, they didn’t actually get to know each other until Kei started working in the floral section of Harris Teeter, and Justin would go grocery shopping and stare at her while he ate the fruit samples (yesssss, such a good meeting story). They both really like kid’s movies (Up, Hotel Transylvania, the Good Dinosaur) and we encouraged them to look into the Last Unicorn although it’s crazy depressing (sorry in advance!).  And we ran around the park discussing good and bad television shows and our jobs and how spiders are the absolute worst. In the end, with everyone rushing them to get married already, they wanted to do some Ring Pop engagement photos as a response to the pressure. She then ate her ring and went home. :D

Claudia+Ron+Layla+Reagan are back!

It is with great love and enthusiasm that we induct Claudia, Ron, and Layla into the CSP 3rd Timers Club! We’ve had three sessions with these two amazing dog parents and their pups. Layla, the golden Golden Retriever, has been with us from the beginning with her brother Canela. When Canela passed away, Layla and her parents adopted Reagan, the white Golden Retriever, who is now being inducted into the CSP 2nd Timers Club. ;) The dogs are so excited when they greet us that I’d like to think they remember us, which I think also might be true because Layla is very good at posing for us at this point. She sits where she’s supposed to, looks at the camera, kind of dog-smiles, and then either looks like she’s falling asleep standing, or it’s her version of the Tyra Banks “smize,” I can’t really tell. Reagan is still learning about cameras and modeling, but he can tell you all about his purple dragon toy, and repeatedly give you his paw when his parents go out of reach for reassurance (either for himself or for me, I also can’t tell).

Claudia and Ron, the humans in this story, are two of the most wonderful and gracious people we’ve had the pleasure of working with. And it is truly an honor to photograph them for the third time. That means so much to us and is such a huge compliment that I can’t even adequately describe it. It’s just nice to see the same people over and over again and to have our work trusted and appreciated. We really love these guys, and we love their dogs, and we love how kind and gentle they are to their dogs (and to us!). Also, we love Claudia’s accent, so that doesn’t hurt either. Happy 10th wedding anniversary, Claudia+Ron! And here’s to many, many more. :)