Katy+Matt in the Outer Banks

We met Katy and Matt in Kitty Hawk for their engagement session last weekend after we were conveniently there for a wedding that we attended (yes, attended for once!). They were coming down from Virginia to have their session in the Outer Banks since they travel there frequently and love it, and we were more than happy to oblige since it’s always an amazing place to shoot. However, an “amazing place to shoot” usually means that you’re stuck with some sort of challenging element… namely a lot of sand in your camera bag and sticking to your lenses with sea-water air. Typically that’s all we need to contend with, but at this point in time there was a storm out in the ocean that caused the waves to be quite insane and pretty much took up the entire beach. We’d place Katy and Matt in a spot, and then they’d get hit with a giant wave that no one saw coming about a half second later. :) We also spent the first part screaming our conversations at each other because the wind was super intense. So after the beach phase we moved onto the sound phase which was much, much calmer… and we could actually talk like normal people and meet the fantastic people that both Katy and Matt are! They braved a lot of elements out there with us but we think the photos are worth it. :)

Caitlyn+Joe: Engaged in the Outer Banks

Caitlyn and Joe are like the Carolyn Scott Photography unofficial fan club presidents. The best part about having fan club presidents is that sometimes they take you to the beach with them and let you stay in their beach house and feed you milkshakes from a grumpy man in the Outer Banks when you take their engagement pictures! The other best part about having fan club presidents is the psychic connections that you can develop with them… like when we played Catch Phrase and Joe said, “I have no idea who this is. She’s an older lady,” and I said, “MERYL STREEP!” and he was like, “YES!” and we won. See? It’s like that with us and Caitlyn and Joe.

Initially we were like, “What’s it going to be like staying at a beach house with these people that we kind of know but don’t really know?” and I was terrified that we’d offend them in some sort of way. And we quickly realized that while we had opposing views on music and firearms, that we all equally loved House of Cards and 24 (except Joe who needs desperately to catch up on all episodes of 24 like right now). I was still worried that we offended them in some sort of way about the music and/or firearms until their friends showed up with Cards Against Humanity and all bets were off. I realized that not only did we not offend them, but you kind of can’t offend them, so that was good. We played games for the rest of the trip, saw lots of dolphins, Carolyn got stung by a jellyfish and the friends told Geoff to pee on it (he didn’t), we caught up on some much needed sleep, and we read a lot (they still read!! like us!!). We like them a lot.

They live in Virginia but are originally from Connecticut and were best friends throughout high school and beyond and eventually became more than friends and eventually got engaged and eventually e-mailed us to ask us to photograph their wedding in Connecticut next year and we were like SURE! and then they eventually e-mailed us back to ask if they could have their engagement session in Corolla in the Outer Banks with the wild horses and we were like OKAY! and then this happened.

Abby+Aaron // Engaged in Nags Head

Abby and Aaron are getting married at one of our favorite wedding venues in the Outer Banks in August – Pelican’s Landing in Corolla. It’s seriously fantastic, and we’re so excited to return. They have a longstanding tradition of being at the beach despite not being from there and despite currently living in Chapel Hill. Their first date was in Atlantic Beach going mini golfing and to the aquarium (Abby is a self-professed aficionado about each), and Abby lived in Wilmington for a short period of time where she spent a lot of time at the beach (of course). Aaron can body surf, but Abby’s afraid of sea creatures so she doesn’t get very far into the water. So this love of the beach turned into an engagement session at the beach, and they were nice enough to bring us out to Nags Head for their engagement session “exploring on the pier! I love piers. They are right up there with aquariums.”

Abby and I discovered on our visit that we generally talk like 4th graders. At one point Abby discussed her love of sharks by saying, “Sharks are my favorite. I like all sharks.” At another point, I kicked around some said and said, “I like sand. It is cool.” So, that was kind of how the session went. Aaron and Geoff wondering how they got here while Abby and I had philosophical discussions about sand and sharks. Casey the dog also joined us and continually barked at seagulls, other dogs, and the waves for the entire shoot. He’s a German Shepherd-Chihuahua mix. Just wait, you’ll see. We had a super great time in Nags Head with them and can’t wait to return in August to photograph their wedding in Corolla so Abby and I can talk about sharks and sand some more.