Two weeks ago, I traveled to Michigan to photograph Mallory and Tyler’s engagement session. Mallory and Tyler have the most coveted wedding date for next year, 10/10/2020! They booked me at the beginning of this year because we knew their date would go fast. I was excited to travel to a part of Michigan I’d never been to before! I always love to see new places so anytime a couple wants to go somewhere other than South Bend, I’m all about it!

 

Mallory and Tyler wanted to incorporate their adorable dogs into the session… yes please! Katy and Kaya joined us at our first location; Mallory’s parent’s home. The have a large farm so we had plenty of room to walk around and let the dogs explore. The wind, however, was out of control. We had to find spots that were both out of the bright sun and blocked the wind. I think we hit almost every type of weather during this session. That’s the midwest for ya!

Each dog got their own moment in the spot light with individuals. I attempted to put Mallory’s ring on Katy’s nose, for the ring shot, but Katie tried to eat it every time. lol

Next we traveled to County Mill Orchard for our second location. Here we were met with rain and cold winds. It wasn’t so bad once you got used to it but we were surprised how drastic the weather change was from only 30 minutes earlier. The orchard was getting ready to close so we quickly walked back to the apple trees. These are my favorite from the day! I love the green color and the way the trees frame Mallory and Tyler in the photos.

We walked down to a small pond that had a deck overlooking the water. We did a few close ups and then a wide of whole area. I also found a tree stump to hold Mallory’s ring for the ring shot.

They nailed their individuals! Not as cute as the dogs but you know, close!

We quickly ran back to our cars and headed to our final location, about 30 minutes from the orchard. Unfortunately the drizzling rain brought in a lot of cloud cover so we didn’t get a sunset. Our other alternative was to walk along the Veteran’s Memorial Park with the park lights illuminating. However, they weren’t turning on and by now it was pitch black and very cold.

Mallory remembered that there was a small amphitheater at the park. I had the idea to bounce my light off the back of the theater to light them so we’d have some context. When we got to it, it was much smaller than we originally thought but that was okay… we got creative and found an even better solution. I bounced my light at the seats with a purple gel causing a very elegant silhouette affect. They loved it!

As we were just about to give up, the park lights came on. We were so happy that we all hugged and cheered in excitement! Now we could walk around the park in the dark because we had context lighting. The idea was never to use the park lights to illuminate Mallory and Tyler, merely light the surroundings so the photos would give context to where we were.

Mallory looked like Audrey Hepburn in her black dress and sheer sleeves. 🙂 Love the dip!

To see their full gallery, click here!

Photography: Sarah Sage Photography LLC