Metropolitan Museum Engagement Photography NYC: An Urban Love Story

Pure joy on the Met steps - the Upper East Side energy is contagious

Technically, you are not allowed to take photographs in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. I arrive with my smallest camera and a prayer that the docents will turn a blind eye. Katie has brought not one, not two but three outfit changes and an effervescence that is contagious. Max is as a patient as they come. He has brought no outfit changes.

We are going for a timeless NYC gritty aesthetic, something that feels straight out of an editorial magazine spread from the 90s. Somehow we manage to keep a low enough profile inside the art museum despite Katie’s showstopping strapless dress with a bow adorned on the back. It’s such a joy to walk through all these magnificent galleries. The necessity to be inconspicuous somehow lends itself to a carefree, candid joie de vivre. Outside, we quickly stop at a food truck before popping into Central Park then make our way down to Tribeca and over to Brooklyn. A thoroughly New York experience.

A spontaneous dip in the Temple of Dendur wing while museum-goers pass by

Katie and Max in the Met's modern wing - Katie showing off her unique style with her signature bow drawing every eye

The Metropolitan Museum of Art doesn't technically allow photography without a permit, and they certainly don't allow what amounts to an impromptu engagement session in their galleries. But there's something irresistible about the challenge. The Met is one of the most iconic cultural institutions in the world, sitting regally on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. For couples who want their engagement photos to feel like they're part of something larger than themselves - part of the cultural fabric of New York - there's no better backdrop. The risk is part of the appeal. Katie and Max weren't interested in playing it safe. They wanted their photos to feel a little dangerous, a little rebellious, very New York. So we showed up with my smallest, most discreet camera, dressed to blend in as much as possible (though Katie's showstopping dress made that nearly impossible), and moved through the museum like we belonged there. The key to pulling this off is confidence and speed. Act like a couple who just happens to be visiting the museum, move quickly, don't draw attention. The docents are looking for tripods and professional lighting setups, not a photographer with a small camera capturing candid moments.

A quintessential New York moment - stopping at a street food cart between locations

Katie arrived with a garment bag that could have clothed a small bridal party. Three complete outfit changes: the strapless white dress with the dramatic bow on the back for the Met, a chic teddy coat and sunglasses for the Upper East Side and Central Park, and a sharp white blazer with a plunging neckline for downtown. Each look had a distinct energy - editorial elegance at the museum, uptown sophistication in the park, downtown cool in Tribeca and Brooklyn. We were going for a 90s editorial aesthetic, the kind of effortless glamour you'd find in vintage Vogue or Harper's Bazaar spreads. Think Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista walking through the city like they owned it. Max, bless him, brought zero outfit changes. He wore a perfectly tailored suit and let Katie be the star. His patience was remarkable - waiting while she changed in museum bathrooms and back seats of cars, never once looking annoyed. Their dynamic was playful and easy. Katie's effervescence was contagious. She moved through the day with the energy of someone who genuinely loved being photographed, who understood that we were making something special together. Max grounded her, patient and steady, smiling at her antics, game for whatever came next.

Max flagging down a taxi on the cobblestones of Tribeca - effortless New York sophistication

Max on the streets of Tribeca - classic New York cool

After we'd pushed our luck at the Met as far as we dared, we spilled out onto Fifth Avenue and made our way to Central Park. A quick stop for outfit change number two, then we wandered through the park capturing that uptown elegance. From there, we headed downtown to Tribeca - Katie in her third look, both of them ready for the grittier, more industrial aesthetic of lower Manhattan. Tribeca gave us cobblestone streets, cast-iron architecture, and that perfect late afternoon light that makes everything look cinematic. We stopped at a food truck (because that's what you do in New York), Max hailed a cab with the ease of someone who's done it a thousand times, and then we drove across the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun started to set. There's something about moving through multiple neighborhoods in a single session that captures the full breadth of what New York is. It's not just one thing - it's elegant museums and street food, uptown sophistication and downtown grit, Manhattan and Brooklyn, monuments and everyday moments all woven together. That's what makes it New York.

Walking the cobblestone streets of Tribeca in Katie's second look

There's a particular energy that comes from shooting in places where you're not entirely sure you're allowed to be. Everything becomes more urgent, more alive. You move faster, you're more present, you take risks you wouldn't otherwise take. Katie and Max embraced this completely. The need to be inconspicuous at the Met somehow made them more natural, more themselves. When you can't pose for long, when you have to keep moving, the photos end up feeling less staged and more documentary. It's the opposite of a controlled studio environment, and for the right couple, that chaos creates magic. This approach isn't for everyone. It requires couples who are game for adventure, who don't need everything to be perfectly planned, who can laugh when things go sideways. But for Katie and Max, the guerrilla style of moving through the city, changing locations and looks, shooting quickly and quietly when necessary and more boldly when we could - it all added up to something that felt authentically them and authentically New York.

A quiet moment in the back of the car between neighborhoods

Driving across the Brooklyn Bridge - Manhattan to Brooklyn in minutes

Winter Engagement Session in Central Park: Timeless Romance in January

Maggie and Tyler at the Lake in Central Park, with The San Remo towers on the Upper West Side skyline

For good reason, the budding flowers of spring, the lush green of summer and the vibrant foliage of fall are more popular engagement photography backdrops than a blustery winter day. But Maggie & Tyler were excited to be newly engaged and didn’t want to wait. They were also planning a New Year’s Eve wedding, so taking engagement photos in January wasn’t at all that intimidating for these two. First we went to the iconic Bethesda Terrace where they bravely shed their coats for a few shots, then we walked over to Bow Bridge and documented some romance with coats on. We finished up at Tavern on The Green where we didn’t really take photos so much as down some libations to get us warm. The timeless styling of their looks reminded me of scenes of Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in front of The Plaza in The Way We Were. The soft gray winter light truly brought out something beautiful in these two.

Maggie and Tyler in the warmth of Bethesda Terrace Arcade, Central Park - those iconic Minton tiles providing shelter from the January cold

There's something about winter engagement sessions that most couples overlook in their rush to wait for better weather. The light in winter has a quality I can only describe as forgiving - soft and even, with none of summer's harsh shadows or the unpredictability of spring. Central Park in January empties out in a way it never does the rest of the year. The crowds thin, the tourists retreat indoors, and suddenly you have Bow Bridge nearly to yourselves. There's an intimacy that emerges when you're cold together, when you're huddled close not for the camera but because you need each other's warmth. The bare trees reveal the bones of the landscape - the architecture of the park itself becomes visible in ways the lush foliage obscures. And there's something romantic about choosing to be outside in the cold, about the deliberate decision to mark this moment rather than wait for convenience. Winter asks something of you, and couples who say yes to that tend to show up differently. More present. More willing to be vulnerable. More themselves.

A kiss on the Bethesda Terrace steps - where the architecture is as romantic as the moment

Warmth and light in the Bethesda Terrace Arcade - Maggie and Tyler finding shelter from the winter cold

Bethesda Terrace is one of my favorite spots in Central Park any time of year, but in winter it reveals itself differently. The ornate stonework and carved details that get obscured by summer foliage stand out against bare branches and gray sky. The arcade underneath provides not just architectural beauty with those famous Minton tiles, but actual refuge from the wind. We started there because I knew we could duck in and out of the cold, warming up between shots while still getting that grand, romantic Central Park feeling. From there, Bow Bridge was inevitable - it's perhaps the most iconic spot in the entire park, and in winter, with the mist rising off the lake and the Central Park South skyline soft in the distance, it feels like stepping into an old film. The cast iron railings, the gentle arch of the bridge, the way it frames the city behind you - it's pure magic. We finished at Tavern on the Green not so much for photos as for survival. By that point we'd been outside for over an hour and the cold had seeped into our bones. Hot toddies and laughter in a warm room felt like the only logical conclusion to our winter adventure.

A stolen kiss on Bow Bridge with the Central Park South skyline disappearing into the winter mist

What struck me most about Maggie and Tyler was how effortlessly elegant they were. Maggie's white pleated dress with the dramatic bell sleeves, Tyler's classic camel and navy - they looked like they'd stepped out of a 1970s film. There was something about the soft neutrals and clean lines that felt both completely contemporary and utterly timeless. When I watched them together on Bow Bridge, I kept thinking of Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in The Way We Were - that same kind of classic, understated romance. They were planning a New Year's Eve wedding, which made perfect sense for them. There's something about couples who choose threshold moments like New Year's Eve - they understand symbolism, they're drawn to beginnings and transformations. They weren't interested in a big production or an over-the-top celebration. They wanted intimacy, meaning, and a party with their closest people as one year became another. That sensibility showed up in everything, including their willingness to brave January in Central Park for engagement photos. They trusted the process, trusted the aesthetic, and showed up fully even when it meant being cold.

Maggie and Tyler on Bow Bridge as the sun begins to set over Central Park South

There's a particular rhythm to shooting in winter that I've come to love. You have to work quickly, but not frantically. You need to read your couple's comfort level constantly - watching for the moment when cold shifts from invigorating to miserable. I've learned to find the warm pockets: the arcade at Bethesda, the sheltered side of Bow Bridge, anywhere the wind can't quite reach you. I keep sessions shorter and more focused. There's no lingering, no endless wandering. We move with intention from spot to spot, and somehow that urgency brings out something beautiful. Couples are more present when they're cold together. There's less self-consciousness, more genuine closeness. They hold each other because they need to, not because I've asked them to. And there's something about knowing you'll warm up together afterward - that shared reward of hot drinks and the glow of having done something slightly challenging - that bonds people. Winter engagement sessions aren't for everyone. But for couples like Maggie and Tyler who are willing to say yes to the cold, who trust that the soft gray light and bare trees will be worth it, the results are always more intimate and honest than I could have orchestrated any other way.

Lost in each other by the Lake - the kind of moment that makes you forget about the cold

Maggie and Tyler returned to celebrate their New Year's Eve wedding at the Garden City Hotel. View the complete wedding gallery here.

Alex and Mike's engagement session on Asbury Park's shores - where classical romance meets the timeless pull of the ocean

Alex & Mike during golden hour on the jetty rocks - Asbury Park's rugged coastline at its most romantic

I've always thought there's something mythological about couples photographed by the sea. Maybe it's the ancient pull of water, the way humans have always been drawn to coastlines, the way every culture has stories about what lives beneath the waves. Alex in her olive dress against those dark rocks, Mike's hand steady on her waist - there was something timeless about it, something that could have been photographed a hundred years ago or a hundred years from now. The ocean doesn't care about trends or aesthetics. It just is. And when you photograph people against it, they become part of that permanence.

Asbury Park's iconic Convention Hall overlooking the beach where Alex and Mike first met

There's something about the Jersey Shore that exists outside of reality television and summer tourist crowds. Asbury Park in particular holds a kind of magic - Bruce Springsteen magic, if you will - that belongs to the people who actually live here, who know the boardwalk in every season, who understand that the ocean isn't just a backdrop but a presence. Alex and Mike are those people. Alex's mother orchestrated it, inviting Mike without telling him Alex would be there. Sparks flew immediately. They were both beach lovers, both drawn to the water, both rooted in this particular stretch of New Jersey coastline. For their engagement session, there was nowhere else that made sense.

Barefoot on the rocks where the ocean meets the shore - pure Asbury Park magic

The afternoon light in Asbury Park has a particular quality in late summer. It's softer than you'd expect, filtered through ocean haze and the salt air. We started on the boardwalk where the iconic Convention Hall looms over the beach, that massive beaux-arts structure that's survived hurricanes and decades of changing tides. The boardwalk was alive with people - families eating ice cream, teenagers on bikes, couples strolling hand in hand. Alex and Mike moved through it all with ease, their nervous energy from earlier dissolving into something more natural. There's a comfort that comes from being photographed in a place you know intimately, where you don't have to perform being yourself because you already are.

Alex and Mike on the Asbury Park boardwalk - where the Jersey Shore meets timeless summer romance

But the real magic happened when we made our way down to the jetty. The rocks there are dark and volcanic-looking, creating this dramatic contrast against the pale sand and blue-green water. At low tide, tidal pools form in the crevices, little ecosystems of their own. Alex kicked off her shoes immediately - those rocks are treacherous in heels - and Mike followed suit. There's something about being barefoot on rocks by the ocean that strips away pretense. You have to pay attention to where you're stepping, you have to hold on to each other for balance, you have to be present. The camera-shyness Alex had worried about simply evaporated. She wasn't thinking about being photographed anymore; she was just navigating the rocks with Mike, laughing when the waves came in closer than expected, settling into the rhythm of the ocean.

Navigating the jetty together - a perfect metaphor captured in black and white

I've always thought there's something mythological about couples photographed by the sea. Maybe it's the ancient pull of water, the way humans have always been drawn to coastlines, the way every culture has stories about what lives beneath the waves. Alex in her olive dress against those dark rocks reminded me equally of a mermaid and Botticelli's Birth of Venus - that same quality of emerging from the ocean, of belonging to it. Mike's hand steady on her waist, grounding her to the earth while she seemed to float between worlds. There was something timeless about it, something that could have been photographed a hundred years ago or a hundred years from now. The ocean doesn't care about trends or aesthetics. It just is. And when you photograph people against it, they become part of that permanence.

As the sun started its descent, the light turned golden and warm, that brief perfect window before sunset when everything glows. We moved from the jetty back to the open beach. Convention Hall rose behind them, that grand old building that's been watching over Asbury Park since 1930, through prohibition and rock and roll and revival. The beach was emptying out, just a few stragglers left. Alex and Mike walked along the water's edge, waves lapping at their feet, completely at ease now. This was their beach, their town, their story.

Walking into their future on the sands of Asbury Park

What makes Asbury Park such a perfect location for engagement photography isn't just the iconic architecture or the beautiful beaches - though those certainly help. It's that the place has soul. It's been through cycles of boom and decay and renaissance. It's gritty and beautiful at once. The boardwalk still has that old-school Jersey Shore charm, but it's mixed with new restaurants and music venues and an arts scene that draws creative people from all over. For couples like Alex and Mike who are rooted here, who built their relationship in this place, the photographs carry all of that history and texture. You're not just capturing two people in love; you're capturing them in their context, their landscape, their home.

By the time we finished, Alex wasn't nervous anymore. She'd forgotten to be. That's what happens when you photograph people in a place they love, doing something as simple as walking on a beach they've walked a thousand times before. The engagement session did exactly what it was meant to do - it built trust, it helped them understand how I work, it showed them they could be themselves in front of the camera. More importantly, it gave them images of this moment in their lives, newly engaged, standing at the edge of the ocean in the place where their story began. Little did we know that when their wedding day came, we'd return to the water again. But that's a story for another time.

Alex and Mike returned to the water for their wedding at Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club on Long Beach Island. View the complete wedding gallery here.