Friday, June 04, 2010

Matt & Kyle - EnGAYgement

The "fun factor" of this session did not disappoint. These guys told me they would be my guinea pigs and were up for anything, and I have to say I definitely took advantage of that statement! Since they didn't have any locations around here with any particular special meaning, I suggested we go to Sykesville, MD. I'd driven through Sykesville earlier in the month and was simultaneously intrigued and charmed by the town. I scouted online for few locations prior to the session, and even made a new Flickr friend who helped me with some ideas and directions.

I guess you could call this the session gone wrong, but in the end, it all worked out beautifully.

For starters, we almost rescheduled because it was raining on and off all week, but decided to just go for it, clouds and all.

Driving there, I had a blowout and ended up on the side of the highway with a flatter-than-flat tire. (You should have seen the size of the hole in that thing!) I called Matt and Kyle and they very generously offered to drive back - they were 10 miles ahead of me - and help me change it.

(Side note here so I don't seem like a completely wimpy girl: I know how to change a tire, I was just physically unable to get the lug nuts off.)

At this point, a very nice man stopped to help me (if I knew your name I would write you a thank-you note!) and I was on my way again in under 15 minutes. Matt and Kyle kindly followed me the remaining distance, which was a laborious process since I couldn't drive over 50 mph on my spare.

So we got a little bit of a late start, and I was a little dirty, but none the worse for the wear. Sykesville has this super-cool old abandoned blue caboose on the tracks behind the train station and it was awesome for texture and color! We started there and then walked a little farther down the tracks to see what we would find.

Turns out it was a snake.

I've never seen anyone move quite as fast as Matt did to avoid that snake. Ha! I only wish I had been quick enough to snap a photo of that. (In my defense, I'm not sure they make shutter speeds that fast.)

Aside from the minor setbacks and strange looks from the townspeople, we had a great time and I think the photos really reflect that. I'm really looking forward to shooting Matt and Kyle's wedding in September!

















5 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh! I love the work you do! It's beautiful, artistic and creGAYtive. More info please! Chris and I need photos.

Chris Bonney said...

Nice job. When I was in college in the early 70s, my girlfriend convinced me to drive my ancient Mercedes from Richmond to Watkin's Glen, New York, to see the races. My car's starter died in Washington, D.C., where we'd made an obligatory stop to buy beer. Then we got lost on the Beltway. And then, as if that weren't enough, we, too, had a massive tire blowout in Sykesville. I don't care if I ever see that place again. We fixed the tire and then had to push the car uphill on the shoulder to jump start it.

Stephanie said...

I LOVE the picture of the guys with their hand in each others back pocket. Of course I love all your pictures, and I LOVE the cd you made of Lisa's wedding :-)

Trevor said...

These pictures are great!

Emily said...

@Chris Johnson: Thanks! Be sure to visit my website: http://www.emilychastain.com. Engagement sessions are $200 and include all photos w/printing rights. I'd love to work with you!

@Chris Bonney: HA! That story cracked me up!! (Although I'm sure it wasn't so funny at the time...) Thanks for sharing!

@Stephanie: Yay! I'm so glad we were able to reconnect at Lisa's wedding - I had such a good time!

@Trevor: Thanks!!