This was a really fun session for me to shoot. Very close to my hometown and on the riverfront, two adorable dogs, two adorable people, an awesome sunset, and a boat. Not sure it can get much better than that. :)
Jen and Matt are my first ever… rowers. Well, kinda. Matt’s a rower and Jen is a coxswain (It’s the official title of the person who steers the boat and yells the commands and stroke rate to the rowers). They both are members of the Steel City Rowing Club in Verona where they met (all the teams practice at the same dock). Then they went to the same rowing camp in South Carolina where they became really close and have been dating ever since Matt threw Jen in the river (about 2 years – Jen gave him this portrait session as a gift for their anniversary). Matt’s a junior at Oklahoma City University (they have a really good rowing team), and Jen is starting her first year at the University of Pittsburgh as an art history major in the fall. They have two dogs, Matt’s dog Shadow (black) and Jen’s dog Emma (white), who accompanied us for some of the pictures. :)
What’s kind of hilarious for me to see is the way people interact with each other on shoots. 99.9% percent of the time, people tell me that they’re going to be awkward. Or they’re afraid they’ll be awkward. Or they’re worried their significant other will be awkward. Then after that it breaks into two categories: those who are actually awkward, and those who aren’t awkward at all. Jen and Matt, slightly concerned about being unnatural, were some of the most natural people I had ever photographed. It was one of those things where they’d start talking and goofing around and I’d literally have to be like, “Hey. Hey. Hey. Uh, guys? Hey. Ummm?” if I wanted them to move somewhere else or do something. It was awesome. Seriously – ignoring that I’m standing there with a giant camera in your face can’t be easy, but some people manage to do it, and I’m really impressed that these guys did… given that it was their first photoshoot and there were dogs and a shaky dock that was practically in the water and they got completely wet. I like these two and their ridiculously adorable pups a lot. :)
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