I had the pleasure of shooting this engagement session for my old friend, Courtney, and her awesome fiance, Mike. Courtney and Mike were both Peace Corps members who served in South America. They met once they returned to the U.S. through a local group of Peace Corps veterans. Courtney quickly caught Mike's eye, although she remained totally unaware of the fact for a while. They were both part of a group that went down to the National Mall for Obama's second inauguration and when Courtney half jokingly mentioned she wished they could get closer, Mike saw his chance and quickly told her that he had two tickets to the reserved area. After the ceremony they went to Ben's Chili Bowl, which they both consider to be the spot of their first date. The rest, as they say, is history. Mike proposed a little more than a year after that at Gravely Point, Courtney's favorite picnic spot!

We began the shoot at Ben's. The outdoor murals provided some cool graphic backdrops, not to mention the fact that Obama was still prominently displayed which symbolized another level of importance for their story.

From there we moved on to the National Arboretum. I had never been to this place in my 18 years of living in the DC area. I really enjoyed this location and we definitely got some great pictures there. Of course it also helps when you have a beautiful and photogenic couple who is completely at ease and natural in front of the camera! The images practically made themselves.

The couple wanted to finish up with something that was a little more traditionally representative of DC, so we headed to the Lincoln memorial for the sunset.