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“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” – Plato

MADISON SQUARE PARK, NY — Working with Janet & Chip, I experienced firsthand what Dr.Stuart Brown was has been studying for years: Play is More Than Fun. When asked about her ideal vision for an engagement photography collection Janet wrote, “I want something casual and playful – We’re still kind of kids at heart.” This simple sentence so completely captures the course of their engagement session. I am happy to share this remarkable love story with you all. Enjoy!

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A remarkable love story is about adventure. Adventure can be scary but its also exhilarating. For the day, Janet & Chip ventured around Manhattan in the Flat Iron District. They visited Madison Square Park, The Flatiron Building and Shake Shack and then traveled by train to the Upper West Side. Arriving at West 81st Street, the couple made their way over to The Museum of Natural History.

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This is the first Great Hall the couple visited inside the museum. The sheer scale of this dinosaur exhibition was breath-taking. One of the more interesting facets of this museum are the little diagrams which show how the fossils were initially erected. Ironically, most of the origianal displays were not anatomically correct. In short, even “the smartest guys in the room” get it wrong sometimes. The fact that the museum embraces this truth and willingly owns up to it is humbling.

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This is one of my favorite photographs from the entire engagement photography session. I especially enjoy the eye-contact and the expression in Chip’s hands.

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I really love Janet’s wide range of facial expressions. I want to post an image of her next to a the giant tortoise…but she would kill me!

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The story of Dinosaurs (and this photograph in particular) remind me of the famous Darwin quote, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Look at the talons on that thing…

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Most of us do not MAKE time for play. Thankfully, this engagement photography session took place on President’s Day. This allowed the couple to ditch their Blackberry’s for the day and enjoy an old-fashioned field trip in New York City. The one time Chip did sneak a peak at his phone, Janet reprimanded him with a playful finger wag.

Witnessing the connection between Janet & Chip was a pleasant reminder…I MUST schedule more play time for myself. Secondly, the two were very deliberate in choosing the Museum of Natural History for their engagement photography session. In fact, as we walked along the park side entrance I learned that Chip proposed to Janet just outside the Museum. New York City is filled with landmarks.

For engagement photography sessions, I believe that selecting locations based on your history and experience makes all the difference. Thank you to Janet & Chip for the opportunity to document such a unique and special play date. I wish you both many more for the future!

UPDATE: Enjoy the custom album design we created for Janet & Chip featured exclusively on The Queensberry Blog.

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