Well, Hurricane Irene has come and gone and New York City appears to have dodged a bullet. There was significant flooding and wind damage in some areas but not nearly as bad as it could have been. Kudos to the NYC officials for taking lots of precautions.
And now an engagement session that looks like it was done during the hurricane but let me assure you it WAS NOT! It was taken the week before, during one of the many deluges we had throughout August.
I have known Summer and James for many years so I was very honored when they told me they would like to have me as their photographer for their wedding. When it came to shoot the engagement photos, it was pouring outside and we all said “F&*k it! Let’s go for it!” So they grabbed their umbrellas and I put on my rain gear and we headed out to Athena Park in Astoria…
Yes, even though there is a statue of Socrates – this is not Socrates Park. That’s another park in Astoria.
An interesting side note: this sculpture of Socrates was actually created by one of my college professors in Michigan, Anthony Frudakis. His wife was also my pre-school teacher. Small world. Don’t believe me? Here’s a photo from my younger days next to the smaller version of the great thinker. “Acting! GENIUS!”
Summer was a little upset when James tried to give Socrates her ring…
Eventually they decided to ditch the umbrellas all together, since they weren’t helping much and we went over to the playground behind the park.
They decided to hide under the slide for a moment’s respite but James was a little too tall…
What is up with this playground? Weird conglomerations of bars, chains in strange places, netting, and rock climbing footholds on the sides of everything. It looks more like a Parkour course.
Time for one last splash in a puddle.
by Casey