This fun, playful, colorful, sporty couple was high energy and up for anything at their Washington College alma mater– unique, creative engagement photography ensued…

Kristin shared, “We chose you as a photographer because of your uniquely artistic viewpoint and your ability to capture a couple’s style. I am very impressed with how you improvise with a variety of backgrounds and poses and how you can make seemingly-unromantic things, like a piece of rolled up plastic or puddle on a tarp on a baseball field, romantic?!?”
She continued, “We enjoyed laughing with you through the engagement session and were reassured that you wanted to have just as much fun with the session as we did! We are hoping for the photos to be representative of our easy-going yet fun styles in a place that is very important to us.”
They met in Washington College, so we met at one of Chris’ favorite hang outs, the baseball field, where he was a pitcher for all four years of his WAC experience… Kristin was game and played along.

Kristin smiled, “We wanted to revisit where it all began! While we didn’t go to the exact location where we first met (at an off campus stop light party, haha), I really appreciated being able to spend some time in the places that played a big role in each of our individual college experiences; the baseball field for Chris and the field hockey stadium for me.”
Memory lane– Chris holds his pitcher’s mitt while looking out over the field– look closely and you will see Kristin in the background:

Though baseball was Chris’ sport, Kristin was super supportive and picked up a bat so Chris could re-live his glory days :D.
Chris shared, “Something that I appreciate about Kristin is she is willing to try things that she hasn’t done in the past, just because they are things I like to do.  Since we’ve been together, she’s picked up golfing, skiing and even been to a rifle range with me!”

Chris continued, “It’s hard to pinpoint the moment I knew Kristin was ‘the one’, but I would say her willingness to try new things and stick by them is one of the main reasons she’ll be my partner for life.  When she falls down skiing and hurts her thumb, she doesn’t throw her skis down in anger and go back to the lodge.  She drinks a blue moon and meets me back at the lift with a smile on her face.”
I enjoy playing with visual elements, keeping the chain link viable as a textural element in the frame was fun for me…

For this next shot I played with the shadow created in the dugout and the vibrant red wall.
Chris continued, “When I drag Kristin to the local 9-hole course on a 45 degree windy day, she doesn’t put up a fit and make me go alone.  She throws on her Uggs and gets a par on hole 6 from the men’s tees!  Oh and she smells great the whole time, haha!”
He smiled, “I cherish the partner she is to me, and I hope I am half that partner to her.”

Kristin smiled, “It was definitely Chris’ sense of humor that drew me in!  And his strapping good looks of course, hehe.  He is down-to-earth and definitely helps to balance my hyper analytical moments which is why we work so well together.”
She stated, “We are a teammates that are much stronger together than we are apart.”  I like the teammate comment on the ball field with the scoreboard in the background…

Chris agreed, “Yes I’d say Kristin and I make the perfect team– me keeping things light and goofy, and Kristin keeping the ship heading in the right direction.”
For me, this photo shows the balance of their relative strengths in a visual way:

Haha for the photographic creativity that impressed Kristin– here is how I used the rolled up sheet of plastic that was pushed against an old chain link fence to the side of the ball field…
I thought it added contrast, visual interest and caught the sunlight perfectly, framing the couple on the far end.

And this is the puddle on the tarp that was protecting the pitcher’s mound.  The dark rubber and thin layer of water really brought out some crazy colors in the sky that weren’t visible to the naked eye for another hour or more!

While I love to play around and get creative, I still make sure to get a few more traditional shots as well.
I love how the light catches their eyes here– wow, such beautiful colors…

Chris shared, “In the 3 months we dated at WAC we laid the foundation for a long distance relationship that lasted over five years.  We don’t go back and visit that area enough, and I think we would both agree that just being in that town puts a smile on our faces.”

Washington College is one of the 10th oldest colleges in the United States, a private liberal arts school formed in 1782 by George Washington himself, the first college charted after American Independence where George Washington  served on the board of governors!
One of the iconic buildings on campus is the Georgian style brick structure, the Eugene B Casey Academic Center.

Kristin reminisced about their engagement story.  “I arrived home from work on a Monday evening and Chris was cooking dinner in the kitchen. He had been away visiting friends for the weekend, so naturally I missed him and just wanted to be near him while he prepped dinner.  At the time we had a small kitchen without chairs, so I plopped myself down on the floor and started asking him about his weekend.”
She went on, smiling, “He started acting weird and not really answering my questions so I offered to grab us beers from the fridge in the other room. He agreed and so I jumped up to grab the beers. I returned to the kitchen, beers in hand and to my surprise he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand (and dish towel tucked into his front pocket)…”

Kristin continued, “…Chris said, ‘Want to make this thing official?’, haha!   It turns out he picked the ring out over the weekend and had it on the kitchen counter in a ring box which was in my direct line of sight when I was sitting on the floor, clueless about what was about to happen.  Of course I said YES and then we ended up packing up the half-made dinner and heading out to celebrate.”

I love the golden tones of the sunlight and the soft campus in the background… you can tell that this was a walk down memory lane for them.
Chris smiled, shared about the beginning of their relationship, “I was first drawn to Kristin for her stunning good looks.  Then as the relationship grew, I came to realize she was the most genuine person I had ever met.   She puts other people first, 100% of the time.  We then grew to as Kristin says the perfect team.  I am so lucky to have her as my partner in life!”

I love to play with perspective and negative space– there is something so grounding , earthy and authentic about this image… just holding hands walking on a sidewalk in campus.

High fives– so perfect for this fun, sporty couple… I may have climbed in a tree for this one, haha!

These behind the scenes shots were my fav– I had Kristin pull out her skirt for a shot and Chris ‘pulled his out’ too.
He was constantly playful, in motion, just a joy to be around.  These two were always laughing and loving.

Chris shared, “I like to think that we don’t take life or ourselves too seriously.  We hope that was conveyed in the photos, along with the fact that we are both kick starting our modeling careers.”
Full of surprises… that height difference though:

Kristin shared, “For the engagement photo session, we were definitely going for a fun and laid back vibe. We were just our usual, silly, selves. You really helped us to be comfortable enough to do that in front of a camera!”
Kristin shared, “We really appreciated how you were able to meet us where we were at, to ‘get’ us as a couple, to laugh along.  You definitely helped us to relax and feel comfortable enough to really let our true selves show.  I can’t wait to see how you captured us and our love.”

Now it was finally Kristin’s turn for her sport– field hockey!
If you look very closely you can see the tiny happy couple, in this sentimental location, sunset beginning, reflecting…

Bully-off…

Haaa her face…

I may or may not be laying on the field for this…
Haaa, playing a bit more with perspective here as Kristin levitates and Chris is impressed and stoic, lol!

I wanted to incorporate the new “S” in Kristin’s monogram here… cool that it’s also the “S” from Washington College and above the field hockey stadium…

So I pushed every setting possible in my camera to pull out every vibrant color in the sunset.
It is pushed to the max and my artistic interpretation for this extremely colorful, fun, couple.
Can you feel the love tonight ;)?

Then they had a thumb war– so them!

Chris and Kristin, thank you for choosing me to capture your personalities, love and this extremely special location and time in your relationship!
You guys gave me so much to work with because you were playful, fun and so comfortable in your own skin, and with each other.  You were loving, appreciative, effectionate and embracing of your quirks and each other’s.  Also, no matter how silly or crazy my ideas were you were up for trying them and able to be yourselves anywhere.  To say I loved working with you two is an understatement.
I hope that these are just the sort of colorful, playful, fun, authentic photos that you were hoping for!