[Engagement] Nicole & Gregg – Long Beach Island, NJ

We had been looking forward to getting Nicole and Gregg in front of our cameras for quite some time now. Not because we were looking for an excuse to head off for a lil beach weekend getaway (we wouldn’t dare!), but because we’ve photographed pretty much everyone else in their rolodex of friends and family members who’ve also hired us for their respective big days. The irony in all of this was in the fact that Nicole and Gregg were among of the first to meet/hire us, but among of the last to actually get in front of our cameras! We would be remiss if we didn’t thank them for all the love and support they’ve given us this past year. They have been nothing short of awesome :).

We had photographed Nicole’s cousin Alexis (with her charming fiance Mike!) just a few months ago on Long Beach Island. It’s a very family-friendly destination without the frills of resort towns and their touristy boardwalks filled with souvenir shops and hot dog stands. If Coney Island was on one end of the spectrum, Long Beach Island would be on the end furthest away from it :). After our last trip to Long Beach Island, I really thought we had exhausted all the possible shooting locations on the island, so I crossed my fingers for some magic to happen on the day of their shoot.

When we drove into town that morning, I remembered spotting a large boat in the middle of the woods. I never thought to write down the location because I figured it was so out of place, it would be easy to find later during our session. I mean, how often do you find large watercraft just sitting out there in the middle of nowhere?

After driving around for a few hours, we never did find that boat. But we did find a marsh (a really wet, muddy one at that).
And guess what? Those two totally went in on their own and I didn’t even have to twist any arms :).

Gregg makes the universal sign for “flawless victory”, because we actually did locate that boat. I swear it was much larger when I remembered it :).

And what’s an engagement session on Long Beach Island without the beach? :)

Nicole and Gregg, we are so tremendously thankful that our paths have crossed this past year. You guys have been so awesome with your kindness and generosity that we can only hope to reciprocate the love many times over. We hope you enjoy these images as much as much as we enjoyed capturing them, and we can’t wait to see you guys again in just a few more months!

And as fate would have it, the day I talk about Coney Island is the day I’ll be shooting on it. The best camera is the one you have by your side, and the best shooting location is the one where you’re at. When it comes down to it, it really just comes down to capturing what’s in front of you. You don’t really need anything fancy or gimicky to make it work. As long as the love is there, we’ll be there to capture it :).

Here’s to capturing all the love that life throws at you,

Ben & Karis