Adding a little spicy reward and as a thank you to all the brides who made it to and thru the Tucson Convention Center on Sunday, I am showing my love with a contest to win a Tucson engagement photo session. With me of course! And you don’t actually have to be engaged to participate and win. I can also do a beautiful couples or family photo session if that’s what you’d like.

How to Enter: 1) Cruise on over to my facebook page – you can find it on the upper left side of this page – and Click to ‘Like’ me.
2) Now send me an email at lori@loriotoole.com (or just click thru to contact me on my blog or website) and tell me WHY I should select you to win. Tell me your story!
How to Win: I will select my fav’s and post them on my blog for people to vote for the winner

What you Get: An engagement or photo session with me, Lori O’Toole, at a location somewhere in/near Tucson. It will be creative, fun and non-traditional. You will not be allowed to artfully place your left hand on the edge of your fiance’s shoulder to showcase your ring and give me giant ‘cheese’ smiles. If Sears can take this photo, then I am not interested. And yes, I am giving you the files on a disc from this session. After all, this is a contest – I can’t expect you to pay for photos afterwards.  And sorry to all the NY girls – you can def enter, but you will have to come to Tucson to take advantage of the prize!

What I hope for: Than you will talk about these photos and how much fun you had taking them forever

The Value: Priceless. Plus at least $550 worth of photography if you were paying me

Laura, Robert and Lucy

It’s a small small world!  Laura and Robert found me through Laura’s sister-in-law, Holley, who worked for me for 4 years photographing weddings back in New York.  But Laura lives in Tucson and now so do I, so shooting this engagement session worked out perfectly!  Laura and Robert choose Windy Point on Mount Lemmon to do their engagement photos.  Lucy, their lettuce eating (yes we actually bribed her with a bag of lettuce), adorable and well behaved pug came along for the ride.  I only wish I could get my dogs to eat lettuce!  This was a perfect day for my first trip to Mount Lemmon – it’s as gorgeous as everybody has said.  I hadn’t wanted to take the trip in the winter, but now that it was 70 degrees up there, I was one happy camper.  Laura and Robert are so sweet and completely in love.  We didn’t get to stay for sunset because it was Robert’s birthday (Happy Birthday!) and they had dinner plans, but I am definitely heading back to Mount Lemmon soon!

I met Lindsey and David at a bridal show in Tucson this past winter.  And the most amazing thing is that Lindsey used to live about 20 minutes away from me in New York!  We started their engagement photos in the Barrio near El Minuto Cafe and spent about an hour just wandering around checking out the bright colors and beautiful old adobe homes.  I was super excited to take some photos at Elysian Grove Market  since I had just learned all about the history of this beautiful historic building in Tucson.  After a quick break for drinks, we headed up Speedway to Gates Pass for some desert photos.  I am still amazed at how Lindsey just climbed rocks and hopped around the cactus in flip flops – that is not easy climbing in some spots!  These guys are super in LOVE and I can’t wait to shoot their wedding this coming winter!

photo locations: The Barrio, Main Street, Tucson and Gates Pass

Okay, so I know this engagement photography session is really about Lauren and Mike, BUT, 4 month old Mason really does like to steal the spotlight!  He is just so cute, as only a 4 month old Golden Retriever puppy can be.  And so Mason is in a ton of these photos (and yes Lauren, there are plenty of photos without him too!).  I had a great time photographing this fun couple (and their adorable puppy) at exactly the one year point before their July 2011 wedding.  In the beginning, Mason was super curious about everything I was doing, but eventually he just became bored with the whole idea of engagement photos and went to sleep.  I guess I’m just not that exciting….

Photographing Rebecca and Kevin’s engagement session was such a  pleasure!  Rebecca’s Maid of Honor, Michelle,  bought them the session as an engagement gift – such a great idea!  It was one of those hot steamy summer days we’ve been having alot of lately and taking these guys on a hike around the grounds at the Vanderbilt Estate definitely gave them a workout.   Our 1st date had a rain-out, but this day was absolutely gorgeous.  It was also a perfect opportunity to get to know  Rebecca and Kevin better – I can’t wait for their wedding next May!

When Margaret asked me to photograph her and Nick’s wedding last year, I was so excited I really didn’t want to have to wait an entire year for the date to arrive.  Her and Nick are both so sweet and so in love.  Margaret and Nick picked Kingston Point Beach and the Rondout section of Kingston for their engagement photos.  I’ve lived here for years and had no idea that Kingston had a sand beach on the Hudson River!  Actually, I had no idea there was a sand beach anywhere on the Hudson River.  Leave it to a couple of Long Island transplants to find these little local gems.  We pretty much had the beach to ourselves and after some fun water photos, headed to the Rondout in Kingston a change of scenery.  The day of their engagement photo session looked like rain all day and I really thought that maybe we should reschedule, but the weather held out until about 5 minutes after we wrapped things up – perfect timing!

Well, Margaret asked me to please send her my favorite photo from her and Nick’s engagement session as a preview.  The only problem is that I have at least 29 favorite photos – I really can’t choose just one!  Margaret and Nick’s wedding at the Grandview in Poughkeepsie is one wedding I have been looking forward to for a long time, and now it is only a few months away.  Stay tuned for wedding photos in September!

Kingston Point Beach, Kingston, NY

The Rose Garden at Vanderbilt Mansion

Jackie at Vassar College

The wedding day itself seemed to come up pretty quickly after Jackie and Tony’s engagement session.  A touching ceremony was performed by Jackie’s cousin at Vassar College Chapel with a stunning bride and a very handsome and happy groom!  The photo session after the ceremony was in the beautiful Shakespeare Gardens on the grounds of Vassar College and then on to an evening of dinner and dancing at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie.  I was able do some cool photos with Tony and the guys earlier in the day – a nice switch up for me.  The reception in the tent at The Grandview had more food than I have ever seen at a wedding before.  The centerpieces of gerber daisies and photos from the engagement session were gorgeous. What a wonderful day!
Ceremony at Vassar College Chapel
Dress by Maggie Sottero
Flowers by Morgan’s Florist
Music by DJ Dom
Reception at The Grandview

The Shakespeare Gardens at Vassar College

The original plan was to do Marissa and Shawn’s engagement session on the waterfront in Cold Spring, but the day was so windy that we headed up into the Village of Cold Spring instead. Marissa and Shawn were up for anything and we had a fantastic time using the urban setting and great architecture of the old buildings as a backdrop to some fun, sexy and romantic pictures! These are just a few of my many many favorites that day.

Marissa and Shawn

Riverfront Park in Cold Spring

The Village of Cold Spring

Hudson River