engagement session
This was my first session EVER that I got to shoot with fog - and let me just say I am in love. I almost wish I could have fog at every session now haha! I guess most people would describe my "style" of photography as "moody" (though I have my own perspective on that - for another blog I guess lol) - so let's just say my moody little heart just flipped it's lid this particular morning!
Danielle and Justin are fresh out of engagement - August 4th to be exact! Danielle actually works with a friend that I have known for YEARS - even before I took on this photography journey. Though our lives have taken us different directions we still keep up via social media and this long time friend referred Danielle to me.
Since fall wedding season is picking back up my weekend availability is scarce. Typically this time of year I am doing my NON wedding sessions on week day mornings or evenings. Also, my "preferred" time for sessions is sunrise or sunset to get that creamy dreamy lighting. Danielle and Justin were SUPER flexible and opted for a sunrise session. As part of the photography "job", not only do I have to scout locations, I have to determine when the best time to arrive will be so we have "the best lighting". I have to take into consideration the landscape - if it is a long flat surface such as a beach we arrive way before the sun is due to rise because once the sun comes up it is SUPER BRIGHT - if there are trees then we have a few extra minutes due to the sun having to get above the tree line - etc. If the weather gloomy or cloudy then we also have more time to spare in the morning so we are sure there is plenty of light - and obviously if there is some sort of monsoon coming - we do live on the coast after all - then I have to monitor that as well. For the date we picked (August 30th) the weather forecast looked great so no worries there. With the particular area we chose to do the engagement session there was both a flat surface AND a tree line haha! So I made an educated guess on the time (6:40am with sunrise being 6:57am) - rather be early and not miss the peak of sunrise! Well, the week of the session I drove by our location EVERY morning and started noticing fog..... YET ANOTHER factor I had to calculate timing! If we would have started at the original time I had set we would have to be just a few feet away just to be able to see the fog was so thick! So I bumped the session time back 45 minutes! I was hoping I was making the right call!
Well.... it was the most amazing shoot ever. I thoroughly enjoyed this session because it was a new element I had never photographed IN before. I was able to use that creative side of my brain. Danielle wore the cutest summery green floral dress and Justin kept it casual with neutral pants and a texture long sleeve shirt. They arrived to the session with all smiles - though they drove at the butt crack of dawn AND about 50 minutes to the location we chose. They were relaxed and did every crazy prompt I told them to do - and I appreciate they didn't give me looks with some of them - they trusted the process! Danielle's exact words, "I am obsessed".... me too girl, me too! Since they are freshly engaged, they haven't gone diving into wedding planning yet - but they have my number if they do! :)
