Scrolling through this gallery, one might think that Sofi and I had the Lincoln Memorial all to ourselves on a Saturday morning in April, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The place was in fact teeming with photographers posing engaged couples and college grads in caps and gowns, directing families with young kids, all while negotiating the occasional, and likely bewildered tourist dodging rapidly clicking shutters and careful to not end up on the photo shop cutting room floor.

Midway through our session, we patiently waited at one of the coveted spots facing the reflecting pool for the rather delayed arrival of a young man who had planned to propose to his girlfriend and secretly hired a photographer to capture the momentous occasion. Happily, she said YES.

So yes, the Lincoln Memorial was hopping with activity. And this unperturbed Yorktown High School Senior kept her cool amidst all the hustle and bustle. Thank you, Sofi, for your patience with the situation and with all my silly requests to shift and bend and lean and twist. We may just have to do this again in four years when you graduate from the College of William and Mary – perhaps then, appropriately, at the Jefferson Memorial.