This year, Lekha reached out to me for engagement photos since we were both Duke alumns! We were toying with different DC-esque locations until we both happened to have an opening during cherry blossom time! We met on a Tuesday sunrise and spent 2 hours beneath the trees. During our session, I learned that Lekha and Aalok met as kids in high school! They have known each other for over 10 years. After dating long-distance, the two decided to tie the knot in their new home of Chicago, Illinois.

This was the sweetest engagement session of the year. When Courtney contacted me to snap some quintessential DC photos, I assumed the couple just thought the city was pretty. Little did I know, the pair wanted to document all the spots special to them before starting their new life in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Every year, I have couples request photos in the cherry blossoms. And rightfully so! Ben and I even did our engagement photos with cherry blossoms! However.. tourists are swarming, even at sunrise! The Tidal Basin can be nuts. Because everyone wants their spring blooms without hundreds of people swarming, I have compiled a list of alternative photo locations that still allow for maximum blossoms but minimal people.  

This is a super special portrait session to me. I love this couple so much because Steph deserves happiness more than anyone I know. She was an incredible roommate in a crappy apartment when we had crappy teaching jobs. She also is the most giving person I have ever met; she LITERALLY gave a kidney to help a family member last year. Tim is one hell of a guy for making this girl the happiest I’ve ever seen her in our years of friendship.