I normally shoot portraits and engagement sessions in some kind of park or natural setting, so I was delighted when Kate and Steve wanted to do their photos in the French Quarter. I got the feeling that they were up for a bit of an adventure and I talked them into taking a few photos at a funky house in uptown New Orleans before heading downtown. My friend Anthony discovered the house when he used to live in the area, and ever since he showed it to me, I have been wanting to take photos there. It is a dilapidated out house that has vines growing all over it. It is most beautiful when there are yellow flowers covering it, but unfortunately we missed the bloom by a few weeks. It is still a unique spot and they were good sports for walking through the dirt and ignoring the trash.

I think the juxtaposition of a nice couple in pretty clothes against this worn shack is interesting. The bride to be had a brilliant idea of writing on the broken windows, but we didn’t have any dry erase markers. I wish I had thought of something like that. This part of the shoot was not the most successful part of the day, and I think the house may be more suited to high fashion than engagement shots, but it was still fun.

After this, we headed down to Pat O’s, a famous New Orleans bar on Bourbon Street. Being in front of the camera is not always the most natural thing for people, but after a strong hurricane drink, they were ready to go.

We headed to the river and on the way there, I couldn’t resist getting some shots by the railroad tracks. I guess I have a thing for those kind of shots these days. Some of my favorite photos from the afternoon were taken there, because they really got into it and showed me their goofy side. It made for some cute images, showing a glimpse into their real relationship.

Then we headed to the river to get some nice clean shots by the water.

And we ended the day on a bench and in the grass with the cityscape and streetcar in the background during the golden hour- my favorite hour of light.

We were walking back to our cars, when we came across an abandoned streetcar. It was too perfect to resist. I asked to take a few more shots. I would have liked to work this scene a little more and perhaps should have shot it with a shorter lens, but I thought this image was cute anyways.

Best of luck to this beautiful, quirky, hilarious couple. I loved working with them both. It’s always fun when the bride is willing to trek through the dirt or sit on train tracks to get some fun images. I’m happy I was able to capture a piece of their history, a piece of their story. In the words of Amy Pond of Dr. Who (which is one thing I have in common with this fun couple), “We’re all stories, in the end.”