One of the nice things about shooting engagement sessions is that you really get to know your couple before the wedding. As a photographer I get to see beyond the facts and connect with the couple not as clients but as a bride and a groom in love and on this little mini journey to the wedding day. You get to find out where they met and what they do, or the stories behind the things that brought them together. One of those “things” is the dog they both cherish.

When Amanda asked if they could being her I thought it was an awesome idea.

I wanted this one image because I’ve never had a pair of sunglasses that I REALLY like, so I’m always a little bit envious of people with killer shades.

It’s the guy that usually needs a little convincing by his bride-to-be prior to the shoot. And it’s also the guy that realizes “wow, this isn’t such a bad deal after all. We can shoot THESE kinds of pictures any time you want, Ben.”

I just LOVE the look on her face! She’s like: “are they done yet?”

Ben Vigil, stay tuned for… Monica & Rich

I’ve known Meghan for a couple years now. She teaches at my son’s school and she has helped out Pure Fashion in various capacities, which I also help out by doing photography. She’s also BFF with Christina who I blogged about two posts ago. And Nick is the brother of one my wife’s best friends’ husbands. And he handles I.T. at the school. Meghan and Nick are getting married in December at the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Plantation, which I am so looking forward to.

It turned out to be a really hot day but they were so very low stress and easy to work with especially in the “down” moments when I’m [supposedly] not snapping away, like this one.

This one is so cute to me.

They had a blast poking around in the water and it actually took quite a while for them to get up to the waterfall and back without killing themselves.

Love the light on these!

Ben Vigil, can’t wait until December.

As I write this post I’m thinking back to Peggy and Price’s wedding where Christina, my assistant back then, was being hit on by two different groomsmen and she had a guy calling her on the phone named “Garcia”. This former wasn’t unusual. She seemed to get hit on by VERY eligible groomsmen with clockwork regularity but the stalker guy (whom she had barely met) calling and leaving multiple messages on her phone was different. Kinda creepy, yeah, but different.

But I guess it’s not surprising that Garcia… er, Mike, kept calling because anyone who knows Christina knows that there’s no man on this planet that deserves her. See, I’ve known her since she was 12 years old and we all thought she was going to become a nun. No, really, a nun. Her oldest sister is a nun. She has two brothers who are priests. So it’s not so far fetched as it may seem in this crazy world we live in.

But now she’s all grown up and getting hitched… and I couldn’t be happier to be shooting their wedding in a couple months. It means that she’ll be back in Atlanta full-time and she can start assisting me again. Yeah, and I’m happy for Christina and Mike too. (You’re laughing right? That was a joke.)

Okay, enough about me — Christina and Mike:

Ben Vigil, shooting saints…

Stephanie and Chris were in town for the holidays so it was the perfect time to get together and capture a few engagement images. It was great to see them because I hadn’t seen them since they commissioned us early this year to cover their wedding in a few months.

So we headed down to the Swan House, which fits their style to a “T”, and this is what we came away with…

I just love this next image. It’s so many things at once, like they’re lost in another world.

Ben Vigil, on the fifth day of Christmas.

When I first met with Vicky and her parents I told them they would have absolutely no problem finding a photographer to shoot their daughters wedding.

Meet Jason and Vicky…

This is a quick candid of them chatting as I was getting my equipment ready to begin shooting. This, my friends, is a picture of a man in trouble. Fast forward 3 or 5 or 10 years and imagine Vicky saying “Honey, I’m going shopping…” [is that a question or a statement???] and she gives him these eyes. Jason, I’m a married man of 8 years so believe me when I say that — I’m just looking out for you man.

I wanted to start out with a few images indoors because the home in the Country Club of the South was so beautiful.

Outside it was actually quite hot and REALLY muggy since it had been raining on and off. In Georgia the rain doesn’t cool anything off, it just introduces enough moisture into the air to turn an otherwise normal day into a really hot and humid day.

They were whispering things to each other and making each other laugh the whole time. They were probably saying things like “who’s that weird guy taking pictures of us?”

The light was blinding Jason but he survived quite nicely. Here are a few more of my favorites…

Next year is right around the corner!

Ben Vigil, Country Club of the South photographer

Just a quick post. A few days ago I spent the evening helping out Chris and Katie Torres of 6 of Four Creations with a post-wedding eSession with Lia and Victor. If you remember, Chris and Katie flew down to the Keys with me in April to second shoot Nikki and Johnny’s wedding. They have a bunch of good shots on their blog but here’s a couple that I liked…

The first time I met Jennifer in person I was over an hour late. I felt so horrible and thank God that she forgave me because I was determined to make it up to her.

In just a few weeks they are getting married at the Cathedral of Christ the King here in Atlanta. Getting together for engagement photos does wonders for the wedding images when the day comes. By that time, I’m hanging out with friends, not clients.

My friend Chris Torres from 6 of Four Creations came and hung out and took pictures with me. Thanks for that, buddy.

Now for a quick story… shortly after we got to the park, a passerby (who just happened to have a cooler of beer on wheels) took pity on Rob and his predicament and dropped off some supplies for the journey. The man said he knew that cuddling in the park with his girlfriend while some guy took pictures was DEFINITELY not Rob’s idea. In the end, the beer helped and Rob did a great job — of course, having a beautiful fiance like Jennifer made it pretty easy.

I’ll be seeing you both soon!

Ben

You’ve got to like a guy named Ben. I mean, look at this mug.

And then there’s Natalie. Can you believe that she used to be a co-worker with the Legionaries of Christ? For those who don’t know, that’s about 2 steps shy of the nunnery.

We had a great time at Piedmont Park and later at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. Natalie is originally from Atlanta and was here visiting friends and family. I’ll be covering their wedding in Charlotte, NC in September.

They were so easy to take pictures of I could’ve taken shots all day. Natalie was definitely working the [100% real] eye lashes. Ben confirmed that this is the look that ultimately led to his demise…

I often will share images with my wife as a cull and edit them and her reaction was “awwhhhh” which I’m guessing is the reaction of most women to this image…

Ben Vigil, Charlotte, NC Engagement & Wedding Photographer

Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?

I’m in the Florida Keys right now writing from my hotel room as I prep for the start of shooting tomorrow. It was a fun plane ride with a little turbulence and the woman next to me was watching me edit the images and said “now, I like THOSE kinds of pictures!” which was a very meaningful compliment to me as a photographer because they aren’t the kind of pictures wedding photography is associated with in the minds of most people. The stars you see on the covers of magazines had hours and hours of makeup and then hours and hours of layout and photoshop work to make them look that way. When I shoot wonderful couples like Cat & Zach I want them to see their images and feel like a star. It sounds hokey but any one of my couples could be on the cover of a magazine and I want to help them see that through my images. Anyway, I tend to ramble…

I’m here for the weekend in Islamorada shooting a wedding (I’ll post some images after the weekend) but last week back in Atlanta at the Country Club of the South I met Cat & Zach for their engagement session. Cat booked me sight unseen so it was great to meet them before the wedding and get them comfortable in front of the camera. They’re getting married next weekend in Atlanta and I’m totally looking forward to it. Check out their images… we started in the clubhouse while I got my bearing straight.

This one is for Zach…

So I have a question — I couldn’t decide which if these two images to post so I put both up and I want to hear from you. Which one of these two do you like better?

I always love it when the wind is cooperative…

See you soon!

Ben

P.S. The woman on the plane also said (and her friend agreed) that you two looked very much in love!