Caroline & Sam's Engagement Session in Montclair, NJ

Caroline and Sam met on Hinge in 2020, which they'll tell you makes them about as modern a love story as it gets. Six years and two New Jersey apartments later (Jersey City first, then Montclair for the last four), Sam picked up Caroline's ring from the jeweler right after Thanksgiving and found he couldn't wait another day to give it to her. He called her into their living room, told her to close her eyes and stand up, and when she opened them, expecting a small gift, he was on one knee in the middle of their own home. That living room is where their engagement session started, too.


Location one: their living room

Caroline wanted a whimsical, woodsy session, with the greens of the forest near their house playing against a deep red dress and Sam in white. She's a photographer herself, with a BFA in the field, so she had a clear sense of the palette she wanted before we ever started shooting.


We began the engagement session in the same living room where Sam proposed. Caroline wore a tiered maroon dress with bright red accents, her glasses, her engagement ring, and her grandmother's ruby ring, finished with black flats with whimsical embroidered detail. Sam wore a white button-down over a white tee with dark gray pants and black boots. Caroline and Sam have clearly put real care into their home, and it showed: their deep green velvet chairs played beautifully against their outfits, and the light coming through the windows did most of the work for us.

Couple in formal attire holding hands on a green sofa, woman in red dress, man in white shirt. NJ home during an engagement session.

Location two: Eagle Rock Reservation

From there we drove a few minutes to Eagle Rock Reservation, the 400-plus acre county park that stretches across Montclair, West Orange, and Verona along the Watchung Mountains. Most people know it for the skyline overlook, but we stayed in the woods, where the quiet and the tree cover matched the tone Caroline and Sam were after.


Deep into the trails, Caroline spotted a natural archway of saplings, twisted together into something that looked almost like a sukkah, or a chuppah. It felt like a fitting nod to Sam's Judaism, so that's where we closed the session. By then they'd been climbing on rocks, playing tag around tree trunks, and frolicking (genuinely, I made them do it) for the better part of an hour, and whatever self-consciousness they started with was long gone.

Couple sharing a romantic dip kiss in a lush green forest in New Jersey, woman in flowing red gown, man in white shirt and boots.

Planning a session at Eagle Rock Reservation

Eagle Rock has a lot of range for a single location: open green space and the city overlook near the main entrance on Eagle Rock Avenue, and quieter wooded trail sections just beyond it, including a stretch of the Lenape Trail.


If you want a shoot with real privacy, aim for the trails rather than the overlook. Essex County Parks does require permits for some photography and filming on county park land, so for a larger or more involved session, it's worth checking with them directly first.


Regardless of which location in the reservation you choose, you are sure to have a gorgeous backdrop with a nod to the natural world in any season.

Couple in elegant attire holding hands on a teal sofa, woman in red dress, man in white shirt, bright living room.
Two hands crossed wearing rings, one gold with aquamarine and one silver with garnet, against a red dress.
Couple sharing a romantic kiss on a teal sofa, woman in red dress, man in white shirt, bright window backdrop.
Black and white photo of a couple sitting on a couch, smiling and talking in a bright living room.
A couple sharing a romantic kiss on a teal sofa, woman in red gown, man in white shirt, near bright bay windows.
Two people holding hands, one with floral tattoos on their arm, wearing a red shirt and a gold ring.
A plus-size woman in a red ruffled dress stands beside a man in white sitting on a green sofa.
A woman in a red dress and a tattooed man in white shirt smile together on a green sofa by a window.
Couple sharing a kiss on a green sofa, woman in red ruffled gown and man in white shirt.
Couple sharing a romantic kiss on the porch steps of a charming gray Victorian house with white trim.
Couple embracing on the porch of a charming gray Victorian house with a turret and wooden railings.
Couple holding hands walking down a wooded path, woman in red tiered dress and man in white shirt.
Engaged couple holding hands on a forest trail, woman in red dress looking back at her partner.
Couple holding hands walking on a forest path, woman in red tiered dress looks back smiling.
Couple embracing and touching foreheads on a forest path, woman in red dress, man in white shirt, surrounded by lush green trees.

Planning your own engagement session?


Hey, I'm Joliette! I'm a wedding and engagement photographer based in Westchester County, working with couples across NYC, the Hudson Valley, and Fairfield County, as well as select sessions further out, like Caroline and Sam's in Montclair.


Reach out through my contact form to talk through locations, timing, and what to wear for your own engagement session and I'll be in touch in 24 hours.