Blog— 2020 —
Goddard Park Engagement Photos
Marisa & Larry
Goddard Park, East Greenwich, Rhode Island
October 11th, 2020
Generally speaking, there's a certain order to your interactions with a client when you're a wedding photographer. You meet them, you mutually decide to work together, you photograph an engagement session and then you shoot their wedding.
This year, though, is anything but normal and my interactions with Marisa and Larry are proof positive that that's not always a bad thing.
Two months after I photographed their beautiful August elopement at their home in Pascoaq, Rhode Island -- and five months before I'm set to photograph their March 2021 wedding reception -- the three of us gathered for an impromptu engagement session on the day they were ORIGINALLY going to get married before the global coronavirus pandemic shuffled their plans.
I'll be honest, though. I didn't mind. If nothing else, our October engagement session felt like catching up with old friends and anytime you're lucky enough to photograph a relationship as fun as Marisa and Larry's, you take it. And, pandemic or no pandemic, this beautiful fall afternoon at Goddard Park was certainly one worth celebrating for the newlyweds.
Marisa and Larry chose Goddard Park for their fall-inspired engagement session and I'm so glad they did. Not only is it my favorite park to photograph for that unique New England fall foliage look but, conveniently, I was already in the park that afternoon for a session right before theirs.
I always love when something like this happens as it forces me to be a little more creative and find different places in a location to visit because the last thing I want is for a photo session to have that "cookie cutter" feel as if I only have so many ideas in my head.
Luckily, Marisa and Larry are a blast to work with and came prepared with a couple of great outfits to choose from, props to really show off the theme of their shoot and even their own ideas for locations. To put it bluntly, it was EXACTLY what I love about engagement sessions.
In the first half of our session alone, we hit six different spots in the park and, honestly, I love that we did as each location gave their photos a different feel. If I had to choose my favorite spot in the park for Marisa and Larry's shoot, it was by far the lovely brown fence in the cover photo of this blog.
I almost didn't notice that little off-the-beaten-path location until we practically drove right past it but, thankfully, we were able to pull off on the side of the road and walk over to it with relative ease.
Right after we finished, I knew I had to take Marisa and Larry to the western-most portion of the park as that area had perfectly in-bloom leafs everywhere we looked.
As Marisa and Larry slipped into their final outfits of their engagement session, we were really running up against the clock as the sun was fading away. Once they emerged and I saw what they were wearing, I was happy that was the case, though, as their dark colors provided a perfect cap to otherwise bright photos.
Dare I say, their last outfit might have been the best color wise. It certainly stood out the most as Marisa found the final location for our formals, a hidden stone wall I'd never seen before in all the years I've come to this particular park.
Talk about a great way to close out the day.
By the time Marisa, Larry and I called it a day on their engagement session, I was exhausted but eager to jump on my computer and check everything out.
Much like their elopement back in August, I had the best luck with this couple and we really put together what I believe are some great photos. It helps to work with a very camera-friendly bride and groom but, more importantly, Marisa and Larry are super comfortable posing for me at this point and directing them feels like I'm working with people who do this for a living.
That bodes well for their March reception, particularly as we likely won't want to spend TOO MUCH time outdoors in what will likely still be winter. Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to it. Marisa and Larry's reception is tentatively slated to be my first shoot of 2021 and, fingers cross, things will be normal by then ... or as normal as possibly.
And, if they're not, working with Marisa and Larry has taught me that, sometimes, you don't need normal to have a great time. So thanks Marisa and Larry for a great shoot. See you next year!
-Paul J. Spetrini
