Rainy, Spring Wheeling Engagement Photos

I’m BACK at it! WoooOoooOooo!  I apologized in advance to the two couples who had to “deal” with me this weekend.  Sydney and Corey were one of those two couples!  I’ve been cooped up in this house like the rest of us during COVID-19 quarantine, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to help it once the time came that I was allowed to spend time with my couples again!  Like the rest of the world, I watched the spring flowers come and go when I should have been out photographing their beauty along with my brides and grooms.  But finally…I got the “go ahead” from the state of West Virginia to start doing engagement sessions and small weddings again and I couldn’t have been more excited! AHHHHH!! It was a long time coming for this couple too.  So now, I want you all to meet Sydney and Corey!  I finally got to do their engagement photos and they are SO great!! AHHHH!!  Enjoy!

I actually “met” these two in some of my virtual wedding workshops I did in the month of April.  I just keep saying this over and over…but these are really strange times.  I actually got to “meet” many of my couples virtually before I ever met them in person.  I could tell both from Sydney and Corey’s presence during those ZOOM meetings to following them on IG (and Sydney’s mom, Amy, too) that they’d be super easy to get along with AND super photogenic.  I really felt like I had a good grasp on their personalities so you can imagine how excited I was when we were able to keep the date on our calendars for these two!! I don’t normally do sessions on Fridays but these two are out of towners and were in for some other wedding related meetings so we made it happen!  Plus…the virus and all that.  Who knows what the future holds!  Of course, it RAINED.  COME ON, 2020…I thought maybe you’d cut me some slack! GAH!  We wanted to do a cute, city session since Sydney’s cousin gifted them with a fun, rural session last year…but it didn’t work out…so I went to my very favorite rain location and we made it happen!!  For real though, I noticed REAL quick that these two could NOT take a bad photo!

OoooOo my goodness me!  Sydney’s mom came along for the ride too.  I chat with her on IG all the time and I love it so much!  The more the merrier at this point.  I have a lot of “people time” to make up!  Remember, my husband doesn’t like to talk so I have two months of Hannah conversating to get out of my system (I know that’s not a word…but you get it).  So, we social distanced and had SO MUCH fun.  They all very much got to see the “Hannah” come out in me…that crazy amount of energy and quirkiness.  And when they just started going with it and giving me this magic……I was a squealing machine.  I DID warn them though, right?!  Gosh…what a way to come out of quarantine!  At this point, I looked over at Amy and said, “Are they always like this?!”  Goodness gracious…I just can’t get enough!

Corey took direction better than most of my grooms and he just earned himself A LOT of wedding photos when the time comes!  I wouldn’t even call it “direction” either.  He just did it!  I am already planning that wedding blog in my head and I can tell you it’s going to be a LONG one!

Amy even helped me out a bit…because remember…I couldn’t do my normal Hannah thing and make adjustments! GAH!  It was SO hard not to just move them around, fix hair, fix rings…it’s killing me BUT I’m really just happy to be out so I’ll do it for however long as long as I get to keep photographing this greatness!  Thanks for the assist, Amy!

These two are just natural together.  I know that seems funny because…yea…they’re getting married.  I’m sure you can see it though!! There was no pose they did that felt awkward or wrong…they made it all work and didn’t even have to try hard!  I told Sydney over and over that I just was there to take these photos.  The rest was ALL them!  I can tell you (and Amy can tell you) they very much did most of this on their own!

Strange times call for strange photos, right?!  Well, some people may think they are strange.  Some people may think they are weird.  Not me.  I sit here and I look at these and I think “memories” and “blog material” and “stories we’ll tell our grandkids”.  I very much think that these types of photos (below) are necessary not only for the Hannah Barlow Photography blogs but because they very much encompass our lives right now…the entire world’s lives right now.  It’s real…it’s fun…we’re making the best of it.  We laughed!  Who would have thought?!  And they nailed the “gangsta pose”!  HA!  It’s a new Hannah Barlow Photography pose! WOOOOO!

Talk about making the best of things!  They, of course, wanted to get some rainy, umbrella photos.  Who am I to say “no”?!  I do love my couples who just go “all in”.  I always joke that “Nationwide has got me covered” when it comes to me standing in the rain with my gear.  Welllllllll, I may have to live up to that comment finally (I’ve been saying it for years…it was bound to come back and bite me).  I’m pretty sure one of my lenses got wet on the inside…whoops!  I’ll send it off to the shop!  No worries!  It was totally worth it!  Just look!  Also, Sydney said Corey is a “terrible umbrella holder” and we all had a great laugh over it!  If we had to say anyone did anything wrong, I guess we’d say he was a terrible umbrella holder!  But, I mean…that’s REALLY stretching it but makes for a funny part of this blog!  How can you go wrong with these photos?!

One last one for the grand finale…walking in the rain! AHHHHHHH!!! Look how they look at each other!! This past weekend was full of so much love and it’s making my wedding photographer heart SOAR!

Well, that’s it!  That’s my first session back and my first spring session of year!  Sydney and Corey have been so laid back and so fun to work with through all of this!  I’m also so glad I finally got to meet Sydney’s mom, Amy, in person too!  It’s been a long time coming and I’m so stinking thrilled it all worked out to get these done while they were in town.  We’re SO hopeful their October wedding this year will go off as planned.  I NEED to photograph their wedding this year.  Can’t you just picture the magic that’s going to happen then?! AHHHHHHHH!! Come on, 2020…YOU CAN DO THIS FOR US!

THANKS ALL FOR READING!! HANNAH BARLOW PHOTOGRAPHY BLOGS ARE BACK!! WEEEEE!