Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting J and Z's engagement session. While I truly enjoy working with all my couples, this shoot was especially pleasurable. J is a long time family friend. He grew up with my oldest son and has become quite a man. He is now engaged to a wonderful Russian woman, Z. They are a very urbanized couple and therefore elected to do an urban style shoot for their engagement session. I truly enjoy shooting urban scenes because the possibilities are truly endless yielding unique and exciting imagery every time.
We started at the new City Garden which I encourage everyone to visit and appreciate. I find the revitalization of downtown St. Louis wonderful, albeit long coming. From there, we headed north a couple blocks to find some great street and alley locations. We finished the shoot at St. Louis Union Station finishing it by toasting in the Grand Hall of the St. Louis Union Station Marriott, formerly the Hyatt Union Station.
I learned a lot about how J and Z interact, caught up with J a bit and learned more about Z during the time we spent together. Z looks and moves like an experienced model despite her lack of experience. She was an absolute pleasure to work with and surprised me with the admission that she'd never been in front of a professional photographer's camera before. J... well J was also a real pleasure to work with. Both Z and I agree that J is no model unfortunately. They were a lot of fun and had no reservations when it came to getting great engagement images. I'm really looking forward to shooting the April wedding when we'll have even more time to create great stuff!
I also now possess the knowledge that Russian custom requires a drink after glasses have touched as a toast. Don't toast with a Russian without taking a drink. You WILL be called on it. I'm looking forward to learning more Russian traditions! Under normal circumstances I limit my alcohol consumption to an occasional social drink with the Bride and Groom at the end of the night. I don't know if J and Z are going to allow me such a luxury at their wedding. I may be taking a taxi home from Kemolls!
Paul it was a great shoot and yes, I will keep my day job as a wedding planner for now. Indeed you will learn many more Russian customs such as spitting 3 times over your shoulder for luck. But do yourself a favor and get some practice in taking some vodka shots followed by a dill pickle. You can rest assured that there will be no shortage of supplies when it comes to this. Maybe Jim can give you a police escort home after the reception? Thanks again friend. See you soon!
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