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Michael Freas Diamond Award Winners

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Michael Freas is an award-winning Asheville engagement photographer of the Wedding Photojournalist Association. You will be in the good hands of a trusted professional who will work hard on creative angles, lighting techniques, and collaborate with you as a couple on poses for the best portraits. Do you want natural-looking, pre-wedding images with unique and artistic compositions? A creative Asheville engagement portrait session with Michael Freas will give you the opportunity to feel more comfortable in front of the camera before your wedding day.

The newly engaged couple posed in a grassy park in Asheville, NC, celebrating their recent engagement in the backlit sunshine
Diamond Awards 2023 v61
The engaged couple posed for a romantic save-the-date portrait on a rooftop in downtown Asheville, NC, with a dark blue sky and tall buildings in the background
Diamond Awards 2023 v61
The engaged couple posed for their save-the-date engagement announcement portrait while sharing a beer and cider at Asheville NC's Hi-Wire Brewing
Diamond Awards 2023 v61
A pre-wedding session in Brevard, NC highlighting the couple posing at a rock outcropping with fall color
Diamond Awards 2021 v44
Pisgah National Forest couple pre-wed portrait of a couple that was enjoying themselves in a hemlock thicket during twilight
Diamond Awards 2021 v44
Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, NC session for a carefree engaged couple wanting a Silhouette portrait at sunset
Diamond Awards 2021 v44
Graveyard Fields, Asheville, NC couple engagement portraits with a couple at the end of a rhododendron tunnel during fall color change
Diamond Awards 2021 v44
Pisgah National Forest, Asheville, NC pre-wed portraits for a fun couple in the scene that compliments the landscape
Diamond Awards 2021 v44
Asheville bride and groom to be, modeling for a NC pre-wedding picture by North Carolina Photographer "I used the shadows of the mountain, to give me a background to make the couple pop out. She started spinning and I captured her in a great moment"
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
North Carolina bride and groom to be, sitting for an Asheville pre-wedding engagement session of the couple sitting along waterfall after a surprise proposal where she said yes
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Chicago bride and groom to be, back to back for a Grant Park pre-wedding engagement photo shoot in Illinois with full compression and shot from a lower angle to compress the towers in the background to show location
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Chicago bride and groom to be, posturing for an engagement image created while sharing a laugh to capture the ring to show the new relationship
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Asheville bride and groom to be, posturing for a Great Smoky Mountains engagement image by North Carolina Photographer "I used this particular Ridgeline and the shadows for a clean background to fit the couple into the scene."
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Asheville, NC bride and groom to be, modeling for a pre-wedding picture by North Carolina Photographer "Using a stream that ran through a park, I was able to capture the warm glow of the sun and their love for each other."
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Chicago bride and groom to be, posing for a Lincoln Park pre-wedding engagement photo shoot with a single speed light behind them gelled with a CTO and a grid and fired it straight up into the air dropped the exposure so that the ambient was dark
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Chicago bride and groom to be, posturing for an engagement image with a nighttime shoot on the La Salle St bridge using the streetlight behind me to light them, along with a flash behind them for rim light
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Asheville bride and groom to be, modeling for a Triple Falls pre-wedding picture in NC of a couple laughing with their dog after a surprise proposal
Diamond Awards 2021 v41
Universal Orlando Resort, Orlando, Florida Engagement photographer: Using the steam from the train to create a backdrop, which created the same feel for the surroundings. we only had 1 shot at this and were lucky on the first image
Diamond Awards 2020 v22
Sunset Pier,Key West, Florida Engagement Photographer: Used the bar tops and umbrellas to create symmetry, while I used the blue sky for a clean background
Diamond Awards 2019 v21
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park engagement photographer: We had a blue bird sky day, and I wanted to create a cool landscape of the feel of our day. We were 70 miles from land, on an island. So I wanted to show the feel of floating
Diamond Awards 2019 v21
Waterfront Brewery, Key West, Florida Couple Portrait Photographer: really cool mural, but has really bad foreground. reflected the mural into my cell phone below lens to create the illusion that couple was inside the waterscape
Diamond Awards 2019 v21
Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West, Florida Photographer: Classical Key West sunset showing up right as we were finishing the session. The longer we waited the better it got. went on like this for about 20 minutes
Diamond Awards 2019 v16
Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West, Florida creative full sun silhouette of engaged couple
Diamond Awards 2019 v16
Scout Key, Florida reflection shot of an engaged couple in a tidal pool
Diamond Awards 2019 v11
engagement photo of couple between trees and snow | Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado | photo after first snow
Diamond Awards 2019 v11
Higgs Beach, Key West, Florida sunset silhouette engagement photos with dog
Diamond Awards 2019 v11

WPJA contest judges have been recognized by their industry peers, winning top awards as staff picture editors, staff photojournalists, and newsroom mentors while working for these and other leading publications and journalism organizations.