Manasass National Battlefield Engagement: Aoy & Ben -

To proceed their wedding, this couple wanted something very unique for their engagement session. Having an interest in local history and strong family ancestry to the area, Aoy & Ben chose a meaningful setting for what was to become their Manassas National Battlefield engagement session.

Photographing a couple at a battlefield is not an easy task. Any National Park is a place that should be respected, particularly those parks where Americans have died fighting for what they believed it, on either side of the war. Therefore, we had to be a little reserved, yet still express the couple’s joy in the photos.

Ben serves as a local fire fighter so it was very fitting that he dressed in a vintage fire department uniform. Surely, he looked sharp from head to toe! Notably, the vintage gold buttons on his jacket were fascinating. Of course, the best thing about Ben’s uniform is that it perfectly complemented the vintage dress worn by Aoy. Actually, Aoy’s dress is a heirloom piece. It was Ben’s mother’s wedding dress in 1981. How great did they look and so fitting for the history theme!

The couple romantically walked through the fields and we were able to even get a few of the monuments in our camera frames. Such as the canons and the Stone House, which was once used as the hospital during the battles. Before their session ended, we took a couple for a walk across a small Stonebridge on the —- side of the battlefield. It was late evening when we were there but I can’t wait to explore it another day.

Uniquely, one of our favorite parts of the session was actually during post, in the edits. We tried to re-create the feel of an old wet plate collodion, the type of photography process that was used during the Civil War. The classic antique portraits really portrayed the past!

Manassas National Battlefield is a must see for those interested in the Civil War history. It’s only about an hour away from DC and there’s plenty of places to eat and shop in Manassas for when you’re done exploring. We had a lot of fun with this couple and we cannot wait to share with you their Thai American Wedding.

Historic Manasass National Battlefield Engagement: Aoy & Ben

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