A Walk Down Memory Lane
During my engagement sessions, I love getting to know all about my couples! Both while planning and conducting this session with Nic & Michelle, Colonial Williamsburg was talked about in the sense that it was an easy pick for the location for two major reasons. First, Michelle spent much of her life here and has memories of her family spending the summers there; she even shared some special memories of her climbing the big oak tree (pictured below) as a young child. How sweet!! Second, Nic actually proposed to Michelle at this tree! This massive, beautiful oak tree was our first stop for portraits and was a great start to this chilly three-hour session.
Tulips & Berry Trees
Following our first location at the old oak tree, we made our way over to a small garden that had the prettiest yellow tulips blooming next to an old, white building. Once we got some sweet portraits there, Michelle pointed out this GORGEOUS berry tree with heavenly, golden light shining through its branches - we HAD to go! I posed N&M nuzzled in close under this tree and not only did the reds and greens really POP, but so did this couple's smiles! They were so genuinely happy and having a good time, despite how chilly it was!
Hidden Gems
Next, we took a coffee break at a quaint cafe nearby. N&M did a quick outfit change while I apologized for my golden retriever personality - I'm just so passionate about what I do! :D On the way back, we spotted this tiny path right off the road where we had parked that led to a small area of tall, luscious pampas grass - it was SO dreamy! We snapped a couple photos back there and it definitely gave Narnia vibes! Then we headed on to this line of trees that Michelle was really interested in checking out back towards the berry tree. Once we got there, we found a small white cottage and a man tending the land. We thought we might try using the cottage for some photos, so we stepped inside the gate to take a closer look, and there it was.......... LITERALLY felt like we entered the Garden of Eden.
Yellows, pinks, purples, greens, blues, oranges, whites, reds, EVERY color you can imagine of beds and beds of flowers and rows of trees - it genuinely took my breath away! Michelle having previously expressed her interest in utilizing the gardens found in Colonial Williamsburg, I knew we just hit the jackpot! We got to work with a variety of poses, focusing on those genuine interactions between N&M. One of my favorite things about this session was, every time I asked this couple to smile at each other, Nic would look at Michelle with a big grin and then give a big shrug! It was the smallest yet funniest interaction because posing can feel so artificial and strange sometimes, but they both were just going with the flow and making the best of it!
A Chilly Saturday Morning
Our grand finale to this session took us past the berry tree once more to this bench along a white picket fence. Up to that point, there hadn't been many opportunities for sitting poses, so I thought this would be a great way to end the session! A few clicks at this bench and it was time for the three of us to warm up in our cars and head on home!
I kid you not, this was some of the most fun I've had shooting an engagement session, and editing was a blast as it allowed me to relive that morning with them! N&M felt the same once they received their 200-image gallery, saying:
"YAY! Thank you so much -- they're beautiful. Can't wait to look more!"
I am so looking forward to N&M's wedding day coming up in June. Stay tuned on the blog to read all about it!
