Michele & Jon Engagement Session – Old City Philadelphia – 6.27.09

Finally we had a sunny day for an outdoor photo shoot after an entire month of rain! It was a good thing too because Michele & Jon drove down from Hoboken for the weekend to do their shoot. They had their first date at a bar called Sugar Mom’s in Old City Philadelphia so we thought that would be an excellent place to start their shoot. If you have never been to Sugar Mom’s it reminds you of a cool basement hangout when you were a kid. They have pin ball machines, old bumper cars you can sit in as well as fun little toys and fake tattoos all over the tables. The most unique part of this bar however is that you can write on anything and everything in front of you. The walls are covered in crayon and the furniture is covered in marker. It’s all the fun of your parents basement hangout as a kid without the yelling for writing on the walls and furniture!

I think these two photos are my favorite from the shoot! I just told them to have fun and play around in the bumper cars and this was Michele’s reaction! I guess we know who the better driver is between these two!

While the bar was cute we wanted to head out and walk around Old City to get some nice outdoor pictures. I love the feel of all the brick and bright colors in this part of the city.

And of course no trip to Old City would be complete without a walk down Elfreth’s Alley the oldest residential street in the United States.

Just down the street was Franklin’s Court where you can see down through windows into what used to be Ben Franklin’s home below street level. It doesn’t look like much besides some dirt, broken up concrete but it was still cool. I loved this archway that takes you from the street into the courtyard area.

This is why I love my clients…I tell them to relax and be less stiff and this is what I get…

I think everyone was starting to get worn out at this point but I just loved the door way on the steps of the First National Bank.

And last but not least they wanted some pictures with the Ben Franklin Bridge in the background so we headed up to the walkway on Chestnut street which overlooks the Delaware River. We weren’t counting on the entire city including every news station being there though for the start of the Welcome America Celebration for the 4th of July. Oops! We managed to find one small opening among street vendors and tons of families who were crammed in to get this shot.

I look forward to working with both of them again in early October when they come back to the area for their wedding.