"I've always hated taking photos," said Shaw, a certified financial planner. "But when I found out about people taking engagement pictures in their hometown stadium, I said 'We've got to go to the Linc.' "
Adieu, LOVE statue and Fairmount Park. So long, Rittenhouse Square and Boathouse Row. Everything about engagement photo sessions - from location to subject to style - is changing from traditional to original. Instead of kissing for the camera under a tree, marrieds-to-be are doing their thing in any number of places. And they don't include a fountain.
Sure, the iconic Philadelphia sites still rank high as photo settings, said Mark Kingsdorf, owner of the Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants in East Falls. "But today a lot of people want things to be more fun and personalized."
That means anything goes: sports stadiums, the gym, grocery stores, amusement parks, subway stations, golf courses, movie theaters, ski slopes, and even prisons. In many cases, the venues are charging for it.
Rebecca Barger, the Jenkintown-based wedding photojournalist who took photos of Dossick and Shaw last month, said she's seen clients become more creative in the last couple of years, and today about half of her couples want to talk about original ideas for engagement shoots.
"Years ago the engagement photo was the standard black-and-white mug shot . . . but nowadays people look at it like a mini love story using photographic images," she said. "Everyone wants their love documented. It somehow makes it more concrete."
One popular destination is Eastern State Penitentiary, where $125 buys an hour of time for an engagement photo shoot that gives new meaning to "the old ball and chain."
