Blog— 2022 —
Roger Williams Park Engagement Photos
Rachel & Mitchell
Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island
October 30th, 2022
By far, the hardest part of late October photo sessions as a wedding/engagement photographer is walking the line between complete mental and physical exhaustion and the need to be happy, peppy and creative for your clients. Try as I may, I'm still human after all and sometimes the endless barrage of assignments at the end of the fall season wears me down.
That's why I was a bit worried headed into Rachel and Mitchell's October 30th engagement session at Roger Williams Park. For one thing, it was my 31st photo session of the fall season (Which I define as taking place between September 1st-October 31st.) For another, it was the fifth of FIVE consecutive sessions at Roger Williams Park over the course of a two-day weekend.
Suffice to say, driving over to meet Rachel and Mitchell, I was absolutely exhausted.
Thankfully, within literal minutes, I had all the energy I needed as these two were one of the most fun, and oddest, couples I've ever worked with and their engagement session had me laughing the entire time and reminded me that, yes, fall photo sessions can be a lot of work but they're so, so rewarding.
I met up with Rachel and Mitchell literal minutes after finishing an engagement session with another client in the park and I'm so glad things worked out the way they did as I knew, right away, that we NEEDED to start our photo session at a great nearby tree I found at the end of that session.
Typically, I try to start engagement sessions at locations I don't care about but I didn't want to run the risk of losing the incredible light at this spot and it paid off handsomely as Rachel, Mitchell and I hit the ground running and never let up on their session.
And what made Rachel and Mitchell's session so special? Well, for one thing, they're an adorable couple. For another, they are hilarious and wanted to use their engagement session to showcase their fun personalities.
Naturally, when they brought out plastic pumpkin heads with the intent to use them for some photos, I knew we were in for a special day.
I'm a big fan of couples who can be themselves on engagement photo sessions and Rachel and Mitchell are a great example of why.
While we picked one of the most beautiful days of the year at Roger Williams Park — thereby guaranteeing we'd have a TON of nice "normal" shots — Rachel and Mitchell's personalities shined brightest when we were just flat out being silly or playing with the pumpkin heads.
This balance was on full display at the Japanese Gardens in the park as, within minutes, we took some of the nicest engagement shots I've taken all year AND the absolute most ridiculous.
Finding that balance was key for this bride and groom and I have no doubt it'll be the same on their wedding day. Still, I wanted to make sure their session wasn't completely goof ball related. As such, we made sure to hit up some of my favorite spots in the park, including the Iron Footbridge and some nearby benches that made for great couples' portraits ... with and without the pumpkin heads.
And, of course, now that the light was finally on our side, I just had to take Rachel and Mitchell to the lake near the Temple to Music. Talk about some lovely foliage in the background.
With the sun starting to set, I knew our last location together would be the Temple to Music itself and after a couple of sweet shots of the soon-to-be bride and groom with the classic Temple backdrop, I opened the floor for them to finish the session out as silly as they wanted to be.
And, of course, they didn't disappoint.
As my time with Rachel and Mitchell came to an end, and as such one of the longest weekends of my year as a photographer ended with it, I couldn't help but smile and feel great about the way everything turned out.
Rachel and Mitchell were the absolute perfect couple to end a crazy five portrait shoots in two days at Roger Williams Park streak and a perfect way to close out the engagement photo portion of my insanely packed October.
So thank you Rachel and Mitch for one of the absolute silliest photo sessions I've ever had but definitely one of the most fun and most memorable. I look forward to trying to top it next year when you guys walk down the aisle and say "I do." Just be sure to bring the pumpkin heads. They're definitely needed. See you in 2023! :)
-Paul J. Spetrini
