After what seemed like weeks of rain, I was so excited to meet Mary and Allen for their engagement photos on the National Mall. We started in front of the Lincoln Memorial, along the Reflecting Pool, so we could grab a few images of the sun rising over the water. Unfortunately, with the Lincoln under extreme renovations, we had to keep moving along after the sun got too bright. We headed to the Constitution Gardens, where we were able to capture the stunning weeping willow trees that were a lush green after all that rain I had talked about above. Desperately wanting to incorporate columns, despite the hold up at the Lincoln, Mary and Allen opted for an extended engagement session so we could head over to the Jefferson Memorial and document that iconic white marble seen all of Washington, DC.

Can we just talk about the LIGHT for this session!? We could not have picked a more unreal sunrise if we had tried — it was a dark and cloudy morning, but as the sun fought its way through, the clouds lit up in shades of pinks, purples, and blue. It only lasted for ten minutes or so, just one of the many, many reasons I highly recommend arriving early to your session… it was a little before our start time, but we kicked off right away to capture that majestic, cotton candy sky! I love that the morning quickly turned to “normal” so that they could have a fantastic mix of both in their gallery. And that slight overcast allowed us to shoot in nearly any location without having to worry about their backgrounds being too bright!

I am so excited to photograph their wedding later this year alongside Caroline Dutton Events at the Meridian House in Washington, DC — knowing Caroline’s unique designs and attention to detail, it is sure to be a stunning event!