the blog

When we first arrived at Doughton Park, we hiked up the top of the hillside and were rewarded by this super cool tree. I couldn’t help but want to add his gnarled branches into the background. It’s such a great contrast to these two & their love.

The day was so beautiful & clear, the perfect conditions to see mountains for days! Those Appalachian mountains get me every time!

Wind always makes a beautiful photograph epic! Just a little ruffle of the hair and this moment just takes my breath away!

At first Casey & Andrew didn’t know how to pose or what to do with their hands. It took a little nudging, but once they realized that all they had to do was be themselves & love each other, well nothing else was needed!

Andrew & Daniel use to play in the band Hot Vegas together. I dubbed this shot Casey & Andrew’s album cover for whenever they choose to start up their own band. 😉

Or they may choose just to snuggle each other for life in stead…I guess that’s okay too!

This is joy! Just beautiful, loving joy!

I saw this spot of negative space and I couldn’t help myself. I don’t have couples do the jump shot often, but if anywhere was a perfect spot THIS was it!

One of the funniest parts of this entire session was that Andrew directed the entire thing and not in the way you might think. He didn’t tell me what to do, but whenever we took our camera’s further away you’d hear him tell Casey things like “Okay now look into my eyes, now look over there and smile, now kiss me!” He did it over and over and the best part was IT WORKED!

Casey brought along this gorgeous red dress that she searched tirelessly for. It was a gorgeous pop of color against the sleeping brown of the woods at Doughton Park.

Dark moody woods + gorgeous couple + the perfect light = Mabyn’s happy place! UGH!

Casey has the florist hook up to make her an incredible floral crown! The attention to detail was fantastic and it was the perfect accent to shoot in the woods!

This shot is all Daniel! Isn’t he getting good? Dang! He makes his wifey proud!

And of course we had to stick around for that gorgeous sunset! This time it was a vibrant orange, the perfect contrast to those blue mountains in the background. Oi…I love my life!

This time around the wind was a little quieter than our last mountain session. However, there was just enough of it to give us a beautiful wind blown tendril or two.

The wind also obliged to give us a couple of epic dress shots! THANK YOU MOTHER NATURE!

I love the contrast in this shot, the dark moody mountains & the sweet emotion in Casey’s “sleep face” as she likes to call it. I like to call it GORGEOUS!

I of course had to get Casey up on that mountain top by herself for an epic dress shot. I love you Andrew, but you’re just not as pretty as your wife. 😉

But we’ll add you back in anyway. 😉

These two were tired after our epic adventure, looking this good takes a lot of energy! Thanks Casey & Andrew for being completely amazing!

We started the day at Moses Cone Manor in case the weather proved to be nasty. Thankfully everything was sunshine & beautiful! Especially Mallory & Peter’s snuggles. There is nothing more sweet!

There was an amazing row of giant and beautiful old tree’s lining the road at the Moses Cone Manor & I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame. The were the perfect frame for our sweet couple!

Sometimes during a photo shoot we’ll give our clients prompts to get them interacting together. Something and simple as walking down a hill hand in hand can create some gorgeous moments!

Snuggles are my favorite and these two do it so well it’s ridiculous! Add in that gorgeous afternoon sunlight and there is just pure magic going on!

Our original plans for their engagement session got derailed due to the weather, so when we met up we looked at all of the fun places we could visit on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mallory & Peter loved the idea of having some water in their shots so we ventured over to Julian Price Lake and found it to be most accommodating!

Engagement sessions + nose kisses = melting hearts!

Our third location in our adventure with Mallory & Peter was to climb the Rough Ridge trail. There were so many perfect spots to stop along the way!

I got to snag funny little moments like this one all day long! It’s so much fun being silly together!

These two are already amazing, but Mallory definitely added bonus points when she blazed the trail in her adorable booties!

Mallory & Peter had us laughing all day long…case in point.

The way these two look at each other…there’s no one else in the entire world!

This engagement session was more than just a dream come true, it is an incredibly important time in the lives of Mallory & Peter. In just a few short weeks they’ll be deployed to serve & protect our country. I couldn’t be more honored to capture a couple and their love and I pray it will bring them comfort during their time apart.

Knowing this kind of love is such a gift and Mallory and Peter understand that like few people do. We truly loved every moment we got to spend with them that afternoon.

After navigating the muddy trail at Rough Ridge we made it to the top where the winds practically howled they were so strong!

See what I mean about rocking those booties? Mallory is something fierce!

It was so clear on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you could see for miles!

Our last stop during their incredible engagement session was at the Beacon Heights trail where we discovered hundreds of amazing spots to shoot!

By that time the sun was on it’s way down and the light just got better and better.

Look at how the light just filters so beautifully through those trees? It was like butter!

Beacon Heights offers another spectacular view of the Appalachian mountains, we just can’t handle it!

There were mountains and kisses for days on top of Beacon Heights!

I’ll never get sick of love & mountains!

A funny story, as we prepared for Mallory & Peter’s engagement session, I got a little distracted by an ad for a beautiful dress. I was considering buying it…guess who wore it to their engagement session? Mallory’s got great taste!

When Daniel & I visited Beacon Heights a few weeks prior to this shoot, it was at least 15 degrees colder & there were tons of people there trying to capture the sunset. Somehow at Mallory & Peter’s session we got it all to ourselves!

We had to push Peter to do this shot a little bit. It’s something they both do on a regular basis, but Peter didn’t want to get makeup on his tongue! These guys were SO funny!

When you’re in love & you let it show, there’s no need for poses. It’s raw & real and we love that!

This shot looks like it was taken right out of an epic romantic movie doesn’t it? So much happiness!

This, THIS is why I love engagement sessions people. When else do you get several hours to just breathe each other in? We get so busy in life, everyone needs to hit that pause button and remember why we love!

Blue mountains at the end of our Blue Ridge Parkway adventure. Just perfect!