Engagement Photo Shoot... at the dump

A better caption:  Backlit couple with mildly annoyed horse

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Wedding magazines and websites brim with engagement shots of back-lit, dressed-up couples in forests loving each other hard, and voguing hard.

To accompany these images, wedding photographers gush inane captions with the words frolic, adorable, and peonies:

"Take the happiest place on earth, pair it with an adorable duo and this is what you get: pure, unadulterated loveliness" or "One crazy gorgeous duo frolicking amongst interior designs that will blow your mind" or even better "The world’s most adorable engagement session filled with poppies, peonies and roses… and smiles for miles and miles."  What?

I love the romance of this image, the gentle way their profiles touch, and the incredible mudflap made by our favorite designer, Peterbilt.

Rather than hiring an expensive photographer to talk us into taking absurd pictures, then write saccharine self promoting captions under them, we took the DIY approach. We got fancied up and asked our friend, NYT featured photographer Pondy Davis, to take similar shots......     at the dump/recycling center. We had a great time. These are the photos, accompanied by actual captions borrowed from wedding photographer websites. Nouns and adjectives in blue were replaced to fit the scene, madlibs style:

  

These two love birds could not have been more at home or more in love than at the trash heap at sunset for these pictures. They incorporated a cozy compost compactor and a white shed into their shoot which added warm softness and natural elegance to their post-industrial setting. 

The cool grays of the pavement was offset by the warm and bright greens of the bins and the afternoon light making for a setting that makes our eyes so happy!

This sweet moment captures their romance perfectly, and I love the way the upper right corner is filled with black goo, while the lower left corner is full of tire. 

The smell and chill in the air was no match for the warmth of this radiant couple.

Since the favorite thing this couple likes to do is have picnics together it seems only fitting that their engagement pictures would feature compost bins for the leftover food. Taking place at Recology in California this shoot has a romantic feel about it and creates a somewhat vintage chic story

You also want to try your best to relax and just focus on not getting hepatitis.  It’s a great time to practice forgetting about the camera so that when your big day comes along you will be pros.  Love is in the air in these photos and we can definitely see it!

Breathtaking and secluded, a recycling center proposal is perfect for any man who’s ready to ask the woman he loves to marry him. Not only was a garbage dump themed proposal a solid idea, but having Eric from Eric Smith Photography capture the event made it all that more special. With the sun starting to rise over South San Francisco – The Industrial City, Eric stayed inconspicuous as the proposal unfolded, and the rest they say is history.

Special thanks to Recology for not kicking us out despite the fact that we looked absurd, and for being an awesome recycling company. Additional thanks to Pondy for believing in us and for brilliant photography in adverse conditions. Grammatical errors above are the photographers', they are not due to the madlibing. As thanks for reading this far, please enjoy these real engagement photos (below) of two people who definitely should request some money back from their lunatic engagement photographer.

There has been a lot of interest in this. You can send us similarly absurd photos and we'll share: paltaparty at gmail.