when we met sara and diogo, they had just returned from brazil (diogo’s home country) during carnaval celebrations. that fact told me a couple important things about them right away: first, that they like to have fun and, secondly, that they would be able to manage the heat of a july engagement shoot here in hotlanta. i guess my sherlockian observations were correct, because these two worked the camera like pros and had a ball together, all while somehow keepin’ their cool under a blazing cloudless sky. in contrast, picture me: “sweating” would be an understatement, a heavy bandana occasionally falling over my eyes, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf if he tried to blow down the great wall of china. my saving grace was that the good folks at table 1280 let us in to shoot some unique images in their air-conditioned building. this would not usually be possible; i think they were taking pity on me.

truly, though, sara and diogo exude a certain optimism and excitement that quickly made me forget myself and drew me in magnetically. during those couple hours, capturing the chemistry between them was the inspirational equivalent of plunging into a deep blue pool in the brazilian rainforest  — minus the killer piranhas, of course. (ok, that’s the first and last time i’ll use that analogy. :P) thanks, sara and diogo! we can’t wait to samba with you guys on the big day! you’re the reason our job is the coolest.

i seriously love all the geometry and color palettes around the high museum. there’s always something new to be found there. we wanted sara and diogo’s portraits to be a study of what we saw as a very passionate yet completely comfortable romance. i was especially pleased how several of their images communicated that, including  these waterside shots that pulled together their intimate embrace and the warm light with the cool comfortable blues of the pool.