Philadelphia Engagement Photographer | Old City + Rodin Museum | Amanda + John

After weeks of hilarious interchanges and a few rained out dates, I finally met up with John and his Darling Amanda for their high fashion engagement session in Philadelphia.

Due to scheduling difficulties, we landed on a sunrise session one Friday morning starting at Race Street Pier.  We didn’t have the hazy sky for long but it was pure perfection for a few minutes.

John is in the Navy and they realized they had very few pictures together with him in his crisp white pilot’s uniform.  Not to be shown up, Amanda donned a curve-hugging off-the-shoulder black dress with trumpet sleeves and strappy black heels.

After a few weeks, I began to wonder if they were even real.  John’s schedule in the Navy affords him only a few days off per month.  He lives in New York which adds another wrinkle.  Amanda lives in Center City but works day and night shifts most days every week.

We strolled over to Elfreth’s Alley for some pictures, racing the quickly-rising sun.

Speaking of alleys, this cobblestone passageway was amaaaaaaazing!

Amanda and John met through a mutual friend, Jared, a few years ago.  They didn’t speak much that night but Amanda clearly made an impression on John.  While John was talking to Jared a few weeks later, he asked him what he had been up to the night before.  When Jared mentioned that he had hung out with Amanda, John gushed about how hot she was, not realizing that he was on speakerphone and Amanda was in the room.  Oops.

I took them to one of my favorite spots on the Old City, the Second Street Bank.  The columns were ideal for the elegant look they were going for.

They went out a few times but John was close to deployment so it never became serious.  They kept in touch for most of his time away and reconnected later.

There are just so many spaces in Old City that seemed made for this fashionable couple in black and white.  The Merchant’s Exchange Building is always a gorgeous backdrop.  Some tourists even stopped to photograph the handsome couple.

Note: those gams are no joke.  Amanda is a professional dancer.

After a quick change into their power couple garb, we headed over to the Rodin Museum for part 2 of their extended session.  Tell me John doesn’t look like Daniel Craig!

It was last May when John wanted to take Amanda out to dinner.  She fought him on everything – needing to know where they were going so she’d know what to wear, asking why they were going for a stroll through Rittenhouse Square, refusing to walk on the grass to the spot where John had hired a photographer to catch the moment he proposed.  He relented and asked her there on the sidewalk.  Amanda freaked out (without saying yes, mind you).

We arrived at the museum right at opening time and with the perfect amount of clouds to give us soft light for our time there.

You can take the pilot out of the uniform but you can’t take the pilot out of the man.  His head jerked to the sky every time he heard a helicopter.  Squirrel, anyone?

I could not get enough of their outfits!  We had talked about a Sex in the City-type look for the pictures.

Then again, I can’t resist the cuteness.

They will be getting married (by Jared) in Florida this October.  Thank you so much for pulling this all together and looking so damn fantastic doing it!

“I am someone who is looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love.”
~ Carrie Bradshaw, Sex in the City