I met up with Kari and Chris at Four Winds at North Mountain Outfitter in Swoope, VA to capture their engagement photos at the same venue where they will be married in 2016. These two were clearly madly in love and just smitten with each other. He's an avid baseball player and she is a web developer in Waynesboro, VA, and where she is a little "high-strung" as she puts it, Chris is totally laid back and carefree, but in this, they balance each other perfectly. Kari says "we love trying new things, so every season we make a bucket list of fun things we want to do such as hiking, zip lining, or tubing down the James for this summer." Not a bad way to go about life- I think I'll start a seasonal bucket list! And I already know the top thing on my list for this summer: when I found out this beautiful rustic wedding venue just west of Staunton is also a ranch that hosts packages including 3-6 hours of adventurous horse trail riding in the mountains, coupled with an overnight stay in a bunkhouse with open fire "cowboy cookin'," I immediately started planning a weekend getaway for my family! Check them out at www.northmtnoutfitter.com. Enjoy your engagement, Kari and Chris, and have fun with your wedding planning!

Dana and Radika own a jewelry business together - Dana Walden Bridal - if you're looking for a custom wedding or engagement ring, you should look for them; their jewelry is stunning. Speaking of stunning...could these two be any more good-looking? It's ridiculous. I was lucky enough to get to shoot their engagement portraits before they got married in a very small ceremony in New York City. Oh my gosh, we had so much fun on this shoot.

We met at Chelsea Market in New York, and just basically walked around, exploring this unique New York City institution, stopping for photos here and there, grabbing coffees to warm up before heading outside for a walk on The High Line. If anyone reading this has not heard of the High Line in New York, make sure to stop there on your next trip to the city. It was an abandoned elevated railroad line on the West side of Manhattan which sat there for decades, rusting and overgrowing with weeds; then it was cleaned up and repurposed, redesigned and replanted, opening in 2009 as a city park, stretching almost 20 blocks. It's a totally different perspective on NYC, walking up there, above the hubbub of the concrete city, in a very green environment.

But I digress...when Dana and Radika showed up to meet me, I knew we were going to make some great photos right away because they looked so stylish, and even brought a few wardrobe options. I enjoyed seeing these two interact- they were so sweet to one another, and matched each other in every way. They would both go for a semi-serious pose, and then every single time, the shot right after the serious shot was a shot of the two of them cracking up at themselves. They were such good sports, willing to try whatever photos seemed cool, but it all unfolded naturally and we had a very memorable afternoon in Chelsea together.

Make sure to check out their jewelry at http://www.danawaldenbridal.com.

--Amanda Maglione

Kari & Chris | Engagement Photographer

Dana & Radika | Engagement Portrait Session