Whitney & Matt: Downtown Iowa City Pentacrest Couple Portrait Session

I met Whitney through a mutual friend late last year; she’s a student at Iowa and also a trainer at Title Boxing Club where I met her! Whitney is the complete opposite of me: extroverted, tall, and confident. She’s so fun to be around, there’s never a dull moment, and she’s full of energy! Every time I saw her at boxing, it seemed like she sucked all my energy and that energy was radiating off her like some superpower glow! I jokingly told her about it once at a gathering and since then, she has made efforts to reign in some of that energy (which, being an introvert, I appreciated!). It was, in fact, at that gathering I met Matt for the first time. He’s a fun, chill guy and sweet to Whitney. I mean, he makes fun of her at times like any other boyfriend, but he has such a good heart and treats her well! He just gets her, and watching the two interact, you can see the chemistry and easy flow of their relationship. The two met at a hockey game through some mutual friends when they were fifteen; six years later and they’re still going on strong! They actually just got engaged! However, this session was planned a couple months prior to the engagement so it wasn’t actually an engagement session.

We kept rescheduling the date due to weather and their spring break trip, but I’m so glad we did; it was definitely warmer than the previous two months! This beautiful Sunday was sunny, but slightly chilly. A breeze blew the chilled air and made us shiver slightly in the shade while the sun gave us refuge with its warmth. There were fewer people meandering the Pentacrest in downtown Iowa City, but that was good news for us: less people to have to photograph around! We hid behind the buildings to block the wind when it became particularly temperamental, and Whitney came prepared with a hair brush to smooth out her mane for every time a rush of air caused chaos to her head. She also brought a thick winter coat she would put on when we walked to the next location and while I adjusted my camera settings. Matt was a man and didn’t bring a coat, but he did try on Whitney’s while we were taking a few individual shots of her and it was quite a sight to see!

I knew coming to the session that it was going to be a lot of fun because Whitney and Matt are awesome, but I didn’t know that they were so. photogenic. Seriously, I was amazed at how well they photographed! Both of them had great smiles and never looked awkward even if they felt it. Despite a few initial quizzical looks to some of my prompts (“kiss with your teeth!”), they followed my directions well and were spot-on with their posing! I think they’re secretly models, but they “denied” it when I asked; they must be undercover models and can’t reveal their model status ☺ We were having so much fun, the hour flew by in a snap! (Like Thanos’ snap.. No? Too far?)

It was hard to pick out my favorites from this session, but I limited myself to a finite selection so I don’t go overboard! Here they are!

The new Mr. and Mrs. Smith—the future Mr. and Mrs. Kopernik

These two together are #couplegoals, and separately? Equally as charismatic and photogenic. I mean, look at them! I actually felt a little fear seeing Matt’s straight face for the first time because it was intense (and scary).

Whitney & Matt—thank you for braving the cold for the amazing session! I’m so glad we finally got to do this, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for you both in this season as an engaged couple and eventually as a married couple ☺