FDR State Park :: Kelsey & Jared

It's only natural that as I sit here composing this blog I'm jamming to Ed Sheeran's new album, Divide.. Which if you haven't listened to it yet, you need to go do it right freaking now. Yea, it's that good. And if you don't like Ed Sheeran, I don't know if we can be friends. It's so stinking romantic and sweet, so obviously it just goes *perfectly* with the love birds of today. Let's talk about Kels & Jared (and Hanni!).

Amidst my overly busy, every minute planned life, I had a semi-off weekend and got to hang with my beautiful sister-in-law and her fiance. I am currently training for yet another 70.3 triathlon and when K&J showed up, I was training for a marathon. I believe I text Kels and said "Sorry my house is a mess when you get here, I ran 22 miles today" and she was like, "I brought lots of booze, it's totally okay." SHE GETS ME.

I was granted the amazing privilege of photographing their engagement photos, and let me just show you how freaking beautiful they are (they being the couple and the images). Kels has been my friend longer than she's been my sister-in-law, and I love that she trusts me enough to photograph her and her wicked awesome fiancé, Jared. Hubs, the pets, Kelsey, Jared and I took a little road trip to up to FDR State Park in Pine Mountain and the dogs got to romp around in the woods while we frolicked through the woods capturing gorgeous sunlight and sweet moments.

Jared and Kels have been together for 500 years. Okay that's a lie, but they've really been together for a long time. Not only have they been together for a while, but they live and work together. I don't know about you and your SO, but let me tell you, there is not enough patience in the world for me to work and live with Hubs. I love him so very much, but when we spend 24/7 with each other we both get annoyed with the other person. So clearly they are both saints.

Some of my favorite things...

• Kelsey and Jared's relaxed demeanor. Kelsey and Jared were both so calm and mellow about their session. I love photographing go-with-the-flow couples and this duo was about as relaxed as they come. I had all these great ideas and Kels was like "sure, whatever you think, let's do it." Seriously? How awesome is that.
• The earthy tones. I will admit that I was a little nervous to be going to a wooded area in the winter - I mean, sometimes sleeping trees are ugly. We lucked out with the beautiful weather and sunshine warming up the browns to create a gorgeous, naturally contrasting background.  
• Hanni. Hanni is Jared and Kelsey's way adorable and sassy wiener dog. It is so great when pet parents decide to include their babies in their engagement sessions (and weddings). Hanni kept us on our toes with all her cute kisses and happy dog smiles. She totally loved being the center of attention.