Blog— 2022 —
Rocky Point State Park Engagement Photos
Courtney & Giovanni
Rocky Point State Park & Goddard Park
May 10th, 2022
One of the many reasons I love engagement sessions is you get to learn a ton about a bride and groom who you might have only just met, months or years before they walk down the aisle.
In working with Courtney and Giovanni to set up their May engagement session at Rocky Point State Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, I got to learn the pair live incredibly close to me AND that Rocky Point was where Giovanni asked his future wife if she would marry him. Needless to say, the spot has a lot of significance to this couple.
I also learned how amazing they are because when we arrived at Rocky Point, it was just about the worst place we could have chosen to shoot an engagement session that day, with wins that threatened to send us all flying into the ocean.
But that's why I love my couples because, the minute I pitched a back-up location, they jumped at it and it turned into one of my favorite engagement sessions in quite sometime. And longtime readers of this blog know ... if there's one thing I love more than anything else in photography, it's flexible couples willing to do what is necessary for the best photos possible.
It didn't take me long to realize at the start of Courtney and Giovanni's session that we were in for a rough day. As beautiful as Rocky Point State Park is, it is right by the water and in an area near both Warwick Country Club and Harbor Lights, two of the most wind-prone venues I've ever photographed at.
Bless Courtney's heart, though, as she was a real trooper about the wind sending her hair every which way imaginable.
While this portion of their engagement shoot definitely had its challenges, Courtney and Giovanni themselves were a total blast to work with and really great sports about everything. I think that's why I especially loved the photos we WERE able to make work, particularly those on the pier where Giovanni proposed.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of going to a new location, however. Thanks to some luck in scheduling, Courtney, Giovanni and I had the rest of the day clear for this shoot and we made the most of it with a 25 minute-long, unexpected drive to Goddard Park that I knew instantly was worth the drive once I saw how the lighting was on this particular spring afternoon.
As is customary when I visit Goddard Park for an engagement shoot, I took Courtney and Giovanni on a mini tour of the area and we had a lot of fun finding locations we thought would work best with their chosen outfits and theme for the shoot.
I have to say, I think we saved the best for last though as we visited the horse barn toward the western portion of the park right before sunset and it was simply spectacular.
By the time Courtney, Giovanni and I wrapped up their engagement session, we had spent over three hours together. That's a lot for any couple but you'd never know it by how genuinely wrapped up into each other this pair were.
I think that bodes well for their December wedding later this year and if Courtney and Giovanni's big day wasn't already circled on my calendar since it's currently slated to be my last wedding of 2022, it sure would be now.
So thank you Courtney and Giovanni for being such an amazing couple and I can't wait to get together and do it all over again when you become husband and wife.
-Paul J. Spetrini
