This session gives me all the Outer Banks vibes! Best of all, we were able to shoot it right here in good ol’ New Jersey! So little backstory here, back in 2017 I met Courtney’s sister Nicole and we immediately clicked. I LOVE Nicole and Bobby and then I also got to meet Courtney (Nicole’s sister), as well as Bobby’s sister Christie (whose wedding I had the honor of shooting as well). I have done several weddings within this group of family and friends and I LOVE ALL YOU GUYS SO MUCH IF YOU ARE READING THIS OMG. Ok I had to get that out. Now back to these photos.

So I knew that Courtney and Mike wanted a beachy vibe, and I figured Island Beach just might be the place to get that feel for their photos. I am super familiar with the island and I was thrilled that I got to use some of the tricks I’ve been hiding up my sleeve. I feel like so many of my ideas are always weather contingent. It’s also super true that when one door closes, another one opens. There was a semi-heavy east wind happening so I figured the ocean beach might be a no go. Fortunately, I have long had dreams of shooting a session where we were actually able to get into the Barnegat Bay at the end – and low and behold it happened. Not only did it happen but we also got the most incredible pink sunset and it just drenched everything in rose gold. When the east wind is howling the bay is usually dead calm, and it was. It was also Caribbean clear.

Courtney and Mike had the cutest picnic set up and we found the most awesome spot with some driftwood to put everything all together. We all agreed that we were getting some very Outer Banks vibes (and of course we had all just viewed Outer Banks on Netflix – we all agree we are definitely Pogues).

Ok. Now that I went through all of that – you seriously have to see this session.

Location: Island Beach State Park, New Jersey