When I met up with Amanda and Alicia for their Quiet Waters Park engagement session, it was one of the hottest evenings of the summer — triple digits, the kind of heat that makes you question every decision that led you outside. We almost moved things. I was fully prepared to reschedule, but these two looked at the forecast, shrugged, and said they wanted to push through anyway. At the time, I was scratching my head a little. Now that I’ve known them for over a year, it makes complete sense: Amanda and Alicia are just built like that. Prepared for anything, unbothered by inconvenience, and somehow still the cutest humans in any room (or, in this case, any 102-degree garden).
They showed up with fans, cool water, and a whole plan for surviving the heat.
That’s just who they are. Amanda and Alicia are some of the kindest people I know — they love their cats, laugh constantly, and have genuinely become dear friends of mine over the last year. When I say CKP couples become family for life, this is exactly what I mean. So while the heat was ready to show up and show out and almost moved our session together to another date, these two brought their own kind of heat: snuggling, smooching, being ridiculously in love the entire time, sweat and all.
We spent the evening exploring Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, starting in the gardens before making our way to the waterfront.
If you’ve spent any time at this park, you already know the magic of it — the gardens feel tucked away and quiet, and the waterfront opens up into some of the prettiest views in Annapolis. We wandered, we talked wedding plans, we laughed a lot, and we sweat even more. Somewhere in there I fully developed raccoon eyes from the heat and the humidity, and Amanda and Alicia were nothing but understanding about it. That’s the kind of couple they are — the kind who make you forget you’re melting because you’re having too much fun to notice.
We wrapped up as the sun set over the big bridge at Quiet Waters Park, and the sky put on a show.
The colors that evening were unreal— it was the kind of sunset that made the whole hot, sweaty evening more than worth it. We closed things out right there on the bridge, golden light everywhere, these two wrapped up in each other like they didn’t need a full gallon of water to rehydrate.
Heat aside, sessions like this one are exactly why I do what I do.
As a queer wedding photographer based in Baltimore, getting to spend an evening with a couple like Amanda and Alicia means more than I can say. There’s something so special about photographing a WLW engagement session where I don’t have to explain who I am or why I get it— I just do. Amanda and Alicia never had to wonder if they’d be fully seen behind my camera, and that kind of ease is exactly the space I want every queer couple in Baltimore, DC, and beyond to feel the second we start working together. If you’re planning a queer wedding and looking for a photographer who gets it, I’d love to be that person for you.
Since this session, I got to watch Amanda and Alicia say “I do” at their Guilford Hall Brewery wedding day, and it was incredible!
Now… I’m looking forward to hitting the Ren Faire with them in just a few weeks! Before we get to the fall fun though, I had to get this one on your screen— their Quiet Waters Park engagement session was such a delight.
PS If you loved this Quiet Waters Park engagement session and you’re dreaming up your own Annapolis engagement session, I would love to be part of it. Tap here to learn more about working together.
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Guilford Hall Brewery Wedding Day | Amanda and Alicia
Engagement Session at The National Gallery of Art | Kara and Kendall
