A Fall Engagement Session

Jeannette

Nov 04, 2013

Last Wednesday I got to take engagement photos for the first really official time.

I loved it.

Of course, I had the best subject ever.

(In case you were wondering, that is what I mean. Just because they are the best couple ever does not mean that there aren't others who are also best. If you don't think this makes sense, just ask Ruthie. The best thing ever happens to her about once a day.)

So, I discovered I love taking engagement photos. (Well, rediscovered, I guess, since I've sort of done it twice before.) Although most probably aren't as easy and pressure-less as this was.

Perhaps what I enjoyed most was just watching them interact. They're pretty adorable.

Deanna came to school and after my class I met them down by the creek. It was a spot I had noticed a few weeks before when I had been thinking of spots to take their picture at--although just for a couple picture then. This was better. :-)

The lighting was awesome...absolutely perfect.

(Side note: I realize the editing of these pictures is lacking in many places. This is the first time I have done major editing aside from for my website, and for that I used a much better version of Photoshop. So I was using a version I wasn't used to, I haven't gotten my style of editing figured out at all, I was frustrated after a saving mix-up with the pictures at UT, and I already used too much time on them. All that to say I realize it needs some work, so bear with me.)

As mentioned, I enjoyed watching them interact.

Those of you who know Stephen will not be surprised that he was a perfect model.

Those of you who know Deanna will probably not be surprised to find she didn't know what to do.

These pictures were fun to take, as I went on a bridge and heard the comments of people passing by.

"Aww! That is so cute!"

"You've got the perfect day for this, don't you?" one guy said to me.

Even though the quality of these two pictures isn't the best (partially because the wind was blowing the leaves around, making focusing difficult, and partly because we were too far away to communicate), I love them. They look almost like something out of a magazine.

I told them they should go into modeling for couples.

They're so cute together, after all.

I told them very little of how to pose, as Stephen instinctively seemed to know what to do.

Deanna, on the other hand, kept asking and sometimes objecting.

And as I've discovered before, she can't smile on command. "Stop smiling like a dorky!" I told her. She needed some tickling to get a real smile, and Stephen supplied.

The sun...it was so beautiful.

I love these pictures...

Aww...I like these ones too. Doesn't she look happy?

Deanna started asking if we had enough pictures. (Which you were probably also wondering. Well, whether you think there is or not, there are a lot more to go. You can start scrolling down really fast now, wondering if you have time to glance at the rest. You probably don't. Be glad I was actually pretty selective for me. There used to be a lot more...)

So Stephen said we were going to do one with her sitting on his lap.

Deanna was not game.

"Why?" she asked.

"That's what people do," he said.

But she wasn't about to. However, resistance was futile, and we did it.

Most of them didn't turn out well as I wasn't sure how to get the right angle, but I liked a few of them.

Aww...isn't he cute?

I can say that. He's my brother-in-law. Practically.

They look so happy...even though Deanna was complaining about his tickling, she looked pretty happy anyway.

We were ready to move on, so we did. When I saw the stone wall outside the library, I stopped them. Stone walls are awesome.

I told them to stand by the wall, and Deanna misunderstood me as saying that she and Stephen should stand several feet away from each other. However, I liked the idea.

So cute...

Here Deanna was quite confused as to what she was supposed to do. She didn't get the arms-over-his-shoulders pose Stephen tried to get her to do.

It made her laugh.

We decided to go to another place, Ottawa Park. I'd never been there before. After Stephen returned from his class and we'd gotten a snack, we drove there. Following much debate as to what to wear (Deanna seemed to be following Stephen's lead and carrying a wardrobe in her car), we were off--to find a bathroom. Then we wandered down a path.

And there was a blue bridge. Which was awesome. Of course, we had to stop.

Once again, Stephen told Deanna how to act. "Just act like you normally do."

"I don't know how I normally act!"

I love this picture. It's such a Stephen face to make.

Of course, a shoes picture. For Melody's enjoyment.

That picture was actually Deanna's idea as she pulled back away from the bridge. Have I mentioned that they are cute?

We moved on from the bridge, and in the lane ahead with pretty leaves, I envisioned a beautiful photo. Deanna always wanted to get married in the fall and wished her birthday was in October. So a fall engagement was perfect.

I ran ahead to get the shot--and looked back to see those dorky people dashing into the woods beside the sidewalk, as if I could not see them.

Stephen declared that I couldn't. So I told him I would show him the picture of him that I couldn't see.

"Well," I said, "if you're going to go hide, you could at least stand by her so that I can get a picture out of it." Stephen complied.

As they were about to climb back up to the sidewalk, I caught a glimpse of the dry woods behind them. "Wait," I said. "Go stand over there."

"There aren't any leaves," Deanna said.

"I know," I replied. "It'll be cool. You'll be like the only color."

Once again, Stephen interacted naturally.

I told them, "It's a good thing Stephen always looks good. If I had to coordinate when both of you happened to be smiling nicely, it'd be difficult."

Aww...

Sometimes you have to wonder about her...

We moved on as I attempted to get the picture I had envisioned.

I enjoy this look they shared.

We moved to another location with fewer things in the background.

"What are we going to do now?" Deanna asked.

"I'm going to pick you up," Stephen said.

"No, you're not!" Deanna said.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a very good picture of it. But it was pretty amusing.

I'm not sure why they decided to do that, but it looks like that picture of the farmer and his wife that everybody copies.

I figured that if you haven't figured out that they're cute by now, you never will, so I shall restrain myself from repeating it.

Watching them interact was enjoyable.

They put leaves on each other's heads.

We were about ready to be done when I had an idea for a picture under the tree. However, the tree being near the pond, Deanna objected to the goose droppings beneath it, so Stephen suggested a spot on the other side of the road.