I've
always been
storyteller.

But I never set out to be a photographer. I was (and still am!) going to be a writer. And then as I worked toward that writing goal, someone put a camera in my hand and asked me to try telling stories with something besides words. So with an English nerd's love for character and tone, a romantic's love for poignant beauty, and a realist's love for imperfection, I dove in.

meet LAURA

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I've
always been a
story-teller.

That was back in 2010.

Since that time, photography has changed much of my life. It's brought me some of my dearest friends. It's reshaped the way my husband Danny and I view serving others. It has even literally taken me around the world. One thing that hasn't changed: my soul-stirring desire to tell stories that feel so real you're sure you knew them before you heard them. Or saw them. It's my privilege to tell those stories for my clients, and for the generations of their families still to come.

meet laura

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Katrina + Chris – St. Augustine Engagement Portraits | St. Augustine Florida Weddng Photography

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

It was last September. I was sitting in a parking lot, about to head inside for a meeting with a wedding coordinator, when a new email from a new bride popped into my inbox on my phone. It had the usual information — wedding date, couple’s names. And a simple question: “Wondering if you would travel to NYC to shoot our wedding?”

Would we?!

Thus began our relationship with Katrina and Chris, exactly one year before they’ll tie the knot. I loved them immediately. And when we finally met in person for their engagement session earlier this week, when the pair made a trip to Florida to visit Chris’s family, it was so immediately clear just how much they love each other. It’s a happy kind of love. So happy, in fact, that they couldn’t stop laughing through the entire shoot. So happy, in fact, that Danny and I couldn’t stop laughing, too.

We started out in Donwtown St. Augustine, a place familiar to Chris, since he grew up in Jacksonville, and completely new to Katrina, who grew up in Queens.St. Augustine Wedding and Engagement Photography.jpgAnd this is when a pickup pulled up to the corner where we were shooting, and a child in the front seat said to his father, “Is she laughing or crying?” Cue additional laughter. You’ll have to agree — laughing is definitely a good look for them.North Florida Wedding Photographer St. Augustine.jpgFlorida Wedding Photographers St. Augustine.jpgWedding Photographer St. Augustine Florida.jpgWe tried seriousness. For a moment. Silliness prevailed!Florida Wedding Photographer St. Augustine.jpgFlorida Wedding Photojournalism St. Augustine.jpgThese two are seriously cute! Want to know a cute fact about them? They met, a number of years ago, via mutual friends . . . via MySpace. Yes. MySpace.Wedding and Engagement Photography St. Augustine.jpgNorth Florida Wedding Photography St. Augustine.jpgSt. Augustine Florida Wedding Photography.jpgSt. Augustine Engagement Photos.jpgSt. Augustine Florida Wedding Photographer.jpgWhat do you think — she loves him? Maybe just a little?Wedding and Engagement Photographers St. Augustine.jpgNorth Florida Wedding Photographer.jpgSt. Augustine Wedding and Engagement Portraits.jpgThe light was so glowy and gorgeous as we wandered around the historic old homes!St. Augustine Wedding Photographers.jpgNorth Florida Wedding Photographers St. Augustine.jpgAfter about an hour Downtown, we all hopped in the car after a quick outfit change and headed over to the beach to cap off the evening.

Oh, and this is Katrina’s fabulous ring. Chris picked it out by himself — and bought a wedding band to match at the same time. Clearly, he was confident her answer was going to be yes!
Florida Wedding Photographers in St. Augustine.jpgClearly, her answer couldn’t have been anything else.St. Augustine Beach Engagement Photography.jpgSt. Augustine Wedding and Engagement Photographers.jpgRomantic Florida Engagement Photography.jpg Natural Light Florida Wedding Photographer.jpgNatural Wedding and Engagement Photography North Florida.jpgSt. Augustine Natural Light Wedding Photographer.jpgRomantic Florida Wedding Photography.jpgOh my goodness, Katrina! (You look amazing!)

Then the sunset pitched in and made things even more romantic. Not that Katrina and Chris needed any help.Romantic Florida Wedding Photography St. Augustine.jpgSt. Augustine Beach Wedding and Engagement Photographer.jpgSt. Augustine Beach Sunset.jpgThen this happened. They’d tried to prepare themselves for the cold Atlantic water, but. . . .Beach Engagement Portraits St. Augustine.jpgSt. Augustine Engagement.jpgFlorida Wedding Photographer St. Augustine Beach.jpgNorth Florida Romantic Wedding Photographer.jpgPerfect, you two. Just perfect.Wedding and Engagement Photographers St. Augustine Florida.jpgSt. Augustine Florida Wedding and Engagement Photography.jpgRomantic Florida Engagement Photography St. Augustine.jpgThere she goes again with the gorgeousness! I cannot wait to see her all dolled up as a bride!St. Augustine Wedding Photojournalism.jpg St. Augustine Florida Engagement and Wedding Photography.jpgBeach Engagement Photography St. Augustine FL.jpgIt only took about ten tries, but we finally got them to jump at the same time. Katrina’s a snowboarder, so she’s kind of into jumping. And Chris can “almost” slam dunk a basketball (which is totally what he appears to have been practicing there on the beach). And you’d better believe it turned into a competition of Katrina trying to out-jump him.Wedding Photography St. Augustine Beach.jpgSt. Augustine Wedding Photographer.jpgWhat do you think — he loves her? Maybe just a little?Florida Wedding Photography St. Augustine.jpgSee even more (you know you want to!) in their slide show:
And you can see even more in their PASS gallery.

Katrina and Chris, as excited as we already were for your wedding, we’re even more excited now. You are two wonderful people, and a wonderful couple, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you in New York this September! If your wedding is filled with half as much love and laughter, you’re on track for an incredible day, and, clearly headed for a joy-filled marriage. Thank you for letting us be a part of this journey with you!

~ Laura + Danny

  1. […] a life filled with punctuation marks — mostly exclamation points. (As evidenced during their St. Augustine engagement session!) They met years ago, on MySpace, and Katrina’s friend sneakily set them up by informing the […]

  2. Katrina De Los Reyes says:

    Thanks so much everyone for the love!! We love you all and thanks most to laura and Danny!!! They are amazing to work with and produce awesome photos!!! 🙂

  3. Odin De Los Reyes says:

    <3 pictures are great auntie @katrina

  4. Windy Robinson Leaptrott says:

    all I can say is WOW! Laura and Danny, I love the story you tell by your words and by your pictures! I seriously cried through the whole process! I can’t wait to see what you all do for my brother and new sister’s wedding day! love it! xoxo

  5. Vivian Arce says:

    Katrina you and Chris are a awesome couple. Chris is a lucky man. Congratulations!

  6. Katrina Michelle Maranan says:

    Love the photos! It defined exactly how their relationship is! 🙂

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