Callaway Gardens Engagement Session :: Caitlin & Josh

I had yet another stunningly beautiful engagement session at Callaway Gardens a few weeks ago with Cait and Josh. I absolutely adore these two. Like big time, they are so sweet to each other it made my heart so happy. They were so natural in front of the camera it was like spending an afternoon with some super adorable, in love friends.

I met Cait at the You Wedding Bridal Expo in August, when shortly after she emailed me to set up a meeting to meet with her and her fiance. I felt an instant connection with her and Josh and I was super excited when they decided to book with me. Josh even gave me a tour of their venue a few weeks later, which obviously made me even more enthusiastic about their wedding next October. 

Let me just tell you real quick about how perfect fall is in the south. The trees don't all change at once and then immediately drop their leafs like they do in New England. There are still patches trees that are completely green thrown into the gorgeous mix of brightly colored foliage. Best part: the weather is still comfortable enough to not need a jacket. This is why fall is better in the south. And this is why my session with Cait and Josh was fantastic. We found bright colored leafs and beautiful greenery. The sun was sunshiny and warm, but the air was crisp and the breeze was cool. The clouds were wispy and moved across the sky in a lazy fashion creating beautiful cloud cover at times and allowing the sun to peek through at others. 

A few of my favorite things about Cait & Josh :

• Cait's outfit changes. She had three outfits planned perfectly for herself and Josh. Not matchy-matchy, but beautifully coordinated and so ultimately fall and totally Pinterest worthy.
• Josh's hair and beard. I'm a huge fan on a nicely groomed man. Josh's beard was the ultimate man beard, and his haircut was flawless.
• The combination of cloud cover and sun. I love a good golden hour photo as much as the next girl, but a perfectly even lit photo thanks to cloud cover is gorgeous. And we had BOTH.
• How relaxed Cait and Josh were in front of me. It was like we were just besties hanging out. And!! Cait was giving me all these shoulder pops and delicate giggles and chin tilts and hip pops, all without needing any direction - it was fabulous.
• The blanket and the magic that happened when they wrapped up in it. You'll see when you scroll down. The blanket was gold. (Thanks Ali & Dan for being my guinea pigs.)

This. These. All. So beautiful. So sweet and intimate and in love with each other. Such a happy heart over here! Don't these images just give you all the feels?! I am so thrilled I have these two awesome people as my clients and I feel so lucky to be able to get to know them over the next year and be a part of their wedding day! Thank you Cait and Josh for choosing me!

Callaway Gardens Engagement Session :: Morgan & Josh

You guys. I had this amazing session at Callaway Garden a few weeks ago, and I've been slowly editing along - life has been CRAZY the last couple of weeks. I had this huge surge of sessions and I started a new part time job and then Hubs and I had to take a quick trip to Arkansas for a family emergency... So I've been dying to share these, but unfortunately these little suckers don't edit themselves.

Morgan entered my free engagement give away at my booth at Your Wedding Expo in August and was one of my three lucky winners! I was only going to give one away but I was so amazed by how many people put their info in that I decided to go ahead and give away more than one. Insert Morgan and Josh! Morgan knew right away that she wanted to go to Callaway Gardens and I was super excited because I've been wishing somebody would book a session up there. For my New England people - think Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

I am absolutely in love with these photos - there was all this fun greenery (some of it was kinda dying, but still so awesome) that created beautifully textured backgrounds and gorgeous muted tones.

See what I mean?! My other favorite thing about this location (and couple) was how stunning the black and whites came out. We all know I'm a huge sucker for the emotion a good black and white image can portray and some of these are UNREAL. Like seriously, beyond gorgeous. Please don't mind my basic white girl reaction.... I literally can not even with these. 

Favorite things about the session: 

• Morgan's brown eyes. They are perfectly symmetrical and round; and they are so dark they practically suck you in. I asked Josh how he ever says no to her. He said, "it's impossible." *SWOON*
• Josh's modeling. I asked twice if he had modeled before. He was posing so naturally - and before I could even ask him to do something he was already doing it. Way to make my job so easy guy.
• The fact that they are high school sweet-hearts. I think only puppies make me happier than two people who have grown up together and continued to love and invest in each other. There's this amazingly endearing innocence to the way they interact with each other and it actually makes my heart melt.
• The sunlight! I must have the best luck when it comes to golden hour. (Either that or I just got really lucky with my mentor who taught me how to use it - shout out to Lexi Photography!) It was warm and glowy and gently peeping through at just the right times. 

Thank you for giving me a chance Morgan (and Josh!) - I know meeting a stranger with a camera can be scary, but you guys were so amazing, and I'm super grateful to have met you both and to have had this truly beautiful session with you. I hope you like them!!

Dublin NH :: Ali & Dan!

Last week (like the avid traveler that I am) I was in New Hampshire spending some quality time with the family, photographing weddings with my college bestie and trying not to suffer too much in the cold. What can I say? I've acclimated to Georgia weather. While at home I wanted to play with my new camera (yup! I officially have two hardworking camera bodies now, yay!) and it just so happened that Ali and Dan needed some professional photos done for their new apartment. Ali's been modeling for me since she was in high school, so she's pretty used to it - and AWESOME at it... Dan needed a little bit of warming up, and then I heard him say, "as it turns out modeling is really fun." Ummm DUH, especially fun when your photographer is telling jokes, laughing and generally just a clown - that's me.

My favorite things about this session ::

• Dan's shoes. I wish I got a close up of just his shoes, they were probably the best guy shoes I've ever seen. Not to mention he cuffed his jeans, and incase you didn't know - I'm a HUGE fan of cuffing jeans. 
• Ali's laugh. Maybe because I grew up listening to her laugh, maybe because Dan fills her heart with laughter, maybe she just has an awesome laugh. 
• The sunlight. The sky was completely clear and the sunlight danced into the images in the most warm and fantastic way. Another thing I'm a huge fan of : natural light and lens flares - which I got a TON of! 
• The flannel blanket we brought because the wind was actually so cold. Dan and Ali snuggled together under the blanket and it was basically the cutest thing I've ever seen.

I am so thankful that they took the time to be in front of my camera, I know how tired they both were - by the way: they both ran a sub two hour half marathon that morning (that's fast). I am beyond thrilled with how the images came out and I am so excited to share them today! It was really great to see Dan and Ali together and how much they totally adore each other filled my heart up with joy. Seeing how happy Dan makes Ali (and vice versa) made me feel so happy for my little (and for Tan Dan!).