When Amber reached out to me about photographing her engagement session to Paul, I was excited to hear that she is the cousin of a friend of mine. I was actually scheduled to photograph her cousin’s wedding in the coming weeks. Also awesome was that Amber and Paul were willing to travel to my favorite Hudson Valley location in Cold Spring to do their pre-wedding shoot. This wonderful spot not only has a beach, beautiful trails but a cliff overlooking the Hudson to boot.

Things got even sweeter when immediately after getting off the phone with Amber, I got a call from Paul. Paul and Amber were already technically engaged. However, Paul did not have an opportunity to present Amber with an official engagement ring. He wanted to surprise Amber with the ring during their engagement session. Paul and I then coordinated the exact location he would present her with the ring. We also developed a code word that would indicate it was time for him to pull the ring out of his pocket. It all went according to plan and Amber was genuinely surprised.

I had a great time photographing and getting to better know Amber and Paul. They have a wonderful ease about their connection. I was not surprised to know that they have known each other since high school.

Visually, the contrast between their red hair and the vibrantly green Hudson Valley made my photo assistant and I oh so happy. We also had a photographer’s divine moment when a gust of wind blew Amber’s dress hem slightly open at the perfect moment – ya know, while they were kissing, on a cliff, at sunset! Yeah, it was that good.

Thank you Amber and Paul for letting me be apart of this lovely time in your lives.

Check out another engagement session here: https://christineashburnweddings.com/2019/03/29/brooklyn-surprise-marriage-proposal-engagement-photography/