These two are clearly crazy about each other. I’m not sure if I ever had to suggest that they not look at the camera – they couldn’t take their eyes off each other.

How they met makes a good story, and The Proposal is pretty amazing too. Jacob proposed to Jerri on a little bridge. On one of the Hawaiian islands.

We kept our eye on the graffiti to be sure nothing objectionable ended up in the background. I liked this one. It could have said “GET OUT” or far worse, but this request was far more polite.

Jacob recently returned from a trip to an American military base in Qatar, where his band played for soldiers serving overseas. Jacob & Jerri – thank you so much for being such good sports, willing to try anything! I can’t wait for your wedding in just over a month.

So the South Side seemed just the right place for their engagement session. Half a block from their house, I pointed excitedly to an empty lot. It was a sunny day, but the lot was enclosed and had lots of reflective light. Yes, photographers get excited about things that others say, “huh?”

Another find… a nice slender alley. Good place for a stolen kiss.

Then an iron gate! We had to get a little creative with positioning here because the alley was actually full of random things like an old mattress, oscillating fan and garden hose. Not really what any of us had in mind to include. And I don’t know about you, but those rather decrepit items don’t say romance to me.

After exploring the streets and alleys from 11th-13th Street and Carson, we drove over to the South Side Works.

I’ll admit it: I try to avoid having to Photoshop my images. I do basic adjustments using Adobe Lightroom, but I very carefully compose my images so that I won’t have to do any editing later on. Very, very rarely, do I shoot something that I know I will want to Photoshop later. But this time… I had an idea. I knew it would involve a bit of Photoshop work, but I felt it was worth it.

What did I do? The starburst light shape is coming from a flash sitting on top of a light stand. So I had to remove the light stand from the photo. As I just recently bought the latest and greatest version of Photoshop (CS5) I was able to use the new content aware fill. It’s not perfect, but it speeds up the job significantly.

It’s always tough to pick a favorite. I think I have to go with this next one.

The Hot Metal Street Bridge may just be my favorite spot in Pittsburgh to watch the sun go down. I love watching it disappear behind the Pittsburgh skyline. But I guess Debbie & Chris only have eyes for each other.

Chris didn’t want me to have all the picture-taking fun!

I want to extend a special thank you to Alyssa, who is just out of the frame on the left above. Alyssa helped make the off camera lighting possible – it was windy on the bridge, and without her help, I’m certain my light stand would have blown right over, and either sailed out into the river and headed for Ohio (or Maryland? I’m drawing a blank on which way the Monongahela River flows) or smashed to smithereens on the bridge.

Debbie & Chris: thanks for a fun evening! I’m very much looking forward to your wedding at the Mansion at Maple Heights in July.

Parting shot: ready for their first dance!

Ashley & Jason met me on a cold but beautiful evening at Mellon Park in Shadyside. Much of the park is closed off due to construction, but there were still lots of great spots for pictures.

The tulips there still look great! Of course, so do Ashley & Jason.

My favorite of the evening:

The sky was very vibrant and moody. I didn’t want to blow out those clouds completely, so I used a little off camera flash to be sure that the sky stayed blue and Ashley and Jason were also lit.

Thanks so much to Jennifer Stein, who will be shooting Ashley and Jason’s wedding with me,  for being my voice-activated light stand.

Ashley & Jason, thanks for spending the evening looking gorgeous. I’m very much looking forward to your wedding next month at the Circuit Center!

And it was indeed morning. Kudos to Jordan and Andrew for being willing to meet really early in the morning.

Jordan and Andrew met during their undergraduate years at Duquesne University, and that’s where we began their session.

These two laugh constantly. This is what they look like most of the time:

The big fountain on Academic Walk wasn’t turned on, but the lovely Duquesne campus has a second fountain, so we headed over there. This spot is very close to where Jordan and Andrew first met, and also where Andrew proposed.

As we left the fountain area, there was a young man who stopped us to ask if there was some formal activity happening there that day. Apparently our photo shoot looked like a big production and he thought we might be part of some big to-do. He explained that he was concerned because he planned to propose to his girlfriend later that day. He pointed to a brick on the ground that said, “I love you Carol. Marry me -John” and said that in a few hours he’d be walking past that spot and showing her the brick. Best of luck to you, Carol and John, wherever you are!

Our second stop was the Hot Metal Street Bridge by the South Side Works.

Jordan’s eyes are gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Jordan and Andrew, I had a great time this morning and laughed a whole lot. I am very very much looking forward to your wedding at Riverside Landing in July!