August 24, 2016 / Engagement
Dan + Lauren | Horse Thief Butte + Ruby Beach | Seattle Engagement Photography
If there’s one thing I love more than anything else about wedding photography, it’s connecting with kindred spirits. There’s simply nothing like when you truly connect with a couple, and you know the trust and excitement to create something truly killer is there. It’s an exhilarating thing — something that’s truly an honor — when a couple gives you limitless options, and they simply let you run wild, their only expectation to create awesome memories — and the byproduct of having a great time are great images.
From the first phone conversation with Lauren, I knew she and Dan were absolutely the type of couple who were game to wander, have fun, and simply enjoy the day of their engagement session as a moment to focus on each other, celebrate this place in their new journey, and have an absolute blast. What I didn’t know was they would go as hard as I go, smiling every hour, and plot location number 34 with me with the same exuberance as the beginning of the day.
Or, should I say, two days.
That’s right; when we had nailed down a time that worked for me to fly out to their hometown of Seattle, I added a day in the travel to head to Portland to plan a shoot with my mentor, Robert J Hill, and imagine my surprise when Lauren e-mailed me and asked, “Hey, if we drive down to Portland, can we be your couple the day before our session?” Um, absolutely! So on a gorgeous, sun-drenched evening, after taking tests for med school, Laura and Dan trekked down to Portland from Seattle to meet Robert and I. From there we began a whirlwind 24 hours that saw us shoot at Horse Thief Butte until the sun disappeared behind Mt. Hood, hop in the car and drive five hours up the Olympic Peninsula to Forks, Washington, sleep for two hours, then head out and and rock Ruby Beach, stop at the Hoh Rainforest, then drive nearly five hours back into the Seattle area. It was wild, it was fantastic, and it was utterly wonderful to get to trek across a gorgeous landscape, no concrete plans except to have fun, enjoy the ride, and create killer images.
I think we hit our criteria.
Dan + Lauren, thank you SO MUCH for entrusting me with your photography, and for believing in the vision of just enjoying the ride. The images make me smile every time I look at how excited and in love you are in them, and I hope they take you back to the adventure with smile as well. It was truly an honor and a joy, and I can’t wait to see what we create for your wedding in Coeur d’Alene next May.