We love our city of Birmingham! And we love that our couples love the city, too! We have our favorite spots, but we also have spots that we’ve never had the opportunity to shoot at. So, when Jessi & Nick requested a couple of areas that we hadn’t captured we got excited!
First though, let’s address the obvious elephant in the room (or in this case, in the city). No, this isn’t Prince Harry & Meghan Markle!! But if Nick had a British accent and with Jessi’s gorgeous head of black hair, we could have totally passed them off as Great Britains beloved couple! Either way, they’re royalty to us!
We met up with Jessi & Nick at the famous It’s Nice to have you in Birmingham mural at John’s City Diner. This is always a perfect hot spot to start off a session with a couple that loves the city! This slogan actually has a very interesting history that you can look up by clicking here. Who knew that this has been Birmingham’s slogan since the 1950’s and has been printed and published in and on much more than just this wall mural!? We were off to a great start with these two! They nailed the posing, the walking shots and of course all the smooching!
Neither Jessi nor Nick are from Birmingham or even Alabama. So when they wanted to visit the historical Alabama Theater for the next part of this engagement session we thought what a perfect idea! We had never actually done shots outside of the theater but have always wanted to use this iconic scene in a session! They both call Alabama home now and after all, it is where they met and fell head over heels in love. So having the theater sign in it’s big, bold marquee lights, made for a great theme to this day! They rocked the sidewalks of downtown and Jessi had the toe pop down to an art!
Next stop, our most popular spot because of it’s variety in landscaping, was the beautiful Railroad Park. This hot spot offers so much in versatility! This time of year, the wide open fall sky with just enough city skyline, the bridges overlooking the railroad, the wide open green spaces, the ponds, ducks (swan-ducks…you had to be there), trees, park benches, and of course, the dreamy Muhly Grass! It’s name isn’t so dreamy, but this particular species of grass is ideal for the backdrop for any photograph, but especially for engagement images because of it’s light feathery bloom that really shows off when backlit by the setting sun! In late summer and early fall, this grass is in full bloom and makes for fairytale-like setting! We walked around the park, and along our way we were able to capture some amazing shots of Jessi & Nick. Jessi & Nick had never actually spent much time at the park before and we believe that they may have found a new Sunday afternoon hangout. The weather was perfect and the sky was heavenly! We think that it made a particular impact on Nick. He spotted the Steel City Pops cart and every now and then he’d break out in a song, so we’re pretty sure he enjoyed the day! And when our couples enjoy the day (which we are sure is always), their mood reflects in their pictures! Engagement sessions aren’t always just about getting great images, but it’s also about getting to know our couples and showing them a great time with a great experience! So when they look back at their images they won’t just see a great picture but the memory of the day will enhance them and make them off the chart amazing!
When we had talked with Jessi about her ideas for the day, she had requested the mural, the theater and the park. She had also requested to end the shoot at the color tunnel. The tunnel has a special sentimental value to them. And we ALWAYS encourage sentimental locations to our couples. We are natural light photographers. We use the sunlight and natural daylight to capture our images. We were a little worried that we might not be able to do the tunnel and Jessi & Nick justice but we were willing to give it our best shot (see what I did there?), literally! When the sun was getting low, we decided it was time to head to the tunnel and see if we could produce some magic. We had never even visited one of Birmingham’s color tunnels!! Yeah, I know, it’s so wrong! They are so cool!!! This particular one was in full rainbow mode when we arrived so we got several great shots before the colors started to change! It went from blue to green to red to purple….you get the idea. We had to wait several minutes before the rainbow came back! It truly was amazing. Jessi & Nick were on target and ready and yes, they nailed it!!! We had successfully pulled off the grand finale! We were so happy that we were able to pull this off! And seriously, not just because it was new and different from our norm but most importantly, this was something that Jessi & Nick really wanted and we were able to do it for them!!! That’s the name of the game folks! Being able to do what our couples want is what it’s all about!
Thank you, Jessi & Nick, for not only allowing us to capture your engagement pictures, but for taking us on an adventure around town and introducing us to new opportunities! We can’t wait to see what your wedding day holds!!
Katie & Cindy
