A TN Tech/Cain Creek Engagement Session in Cookville Tennessee
I’ve been so ready to blog this session… for like… days! BUT I have this blog calendar that I make at the beginning of the month and since I went so incredibly long without blogging a few weeks ago, I had so many sessions and weddings that were ahead of this session. But it’s finally the day! Meet Zak and Kayla! Kayla is Neil’s cousin… And on Monday you’ll meet Kayla’s sister Hannah (which is another session I’ve been DYING to blog!!) – yup, BOTH sisters are getting married and I get to photograph both weddings next year! Seriously, I love my job so much!
Zak and Kayla were kind of matched up 😉 Zak rides motorcycles and one afternoon his buddy invited this girl (hint hint… it’s Kayla!) to ride. Zak was told to bring an extra helmet for this girl who was to ride on his bike with him. He didn’t think much of it until he saw this girl. DAW! Zak didn’t say this in so many words but I read between the lines – it was pretty much love at first sight! They both attend Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, TN so I took a weekend and drove down there to shoot both their’s and Hannah & James’ engagement session. Two birds, one stone.
We started off on campus, in the quad, and man oh MAN was the light just gorgeous!! It was one of those times where I’m just looking around in awe of God’s creation. Only He could make something, anything, THIS beautiful!
They brought me to this street light because it’s where Zak asked Kyla to be his girlfriend. I love that “kids” still do that these days! Now, the photographer in me at first didn’t want to shoot beside/under a post that had a NO PARKING sign on it but I said to heck with it because I care more about telling their story! And honestly, they can make anything look good!
I had this image in my head before I asked Zak to do it but when he did it and I looked at the back of my camera, it suddenly became so much more than a good-pose-idea-turned-picture. There’s something so raw about the loving sigh he made when I asked him to rest on her hand and feel the softness against is face. GAH, one of my favorite images from the day!
THIS look right here! It’s the look a woman gives when she adores her man and I just LOVE it!
And this look is the look a man gives when he cherishes his woman…sooo loving!
Zak and Kayla just fit so well and natural in this pose, I could have kept them there all day lol
Our next stop was Cain Creek, just outside of town. By this time the sun was already starting to set so we worked quickly…
I don’t take a lot of silhouette pictures but there’s something so moody about them, it’s definitely needed every once in a while!
So I’m including the image below, not because it’s a prime example of great photography or anything (because it’s definitely not and because a photographer would point out that it’s too noisy, blah blah blah), but because even though we had run out of light, I still wanted, no needed this shot. The sun had set, it was beyond dusk, and I was working with the tiniest bit of light that was left in the sky and the street lights from the parking lot a hundred yards away. I positioned them on the dock and placed myself behind and tree. I broke out my 70-200mm f/2.8 (for those that care), cranked up the ISO and turned down the shutter speed, and framed them out with hanging leaves from the tree. The result is an image I truly love. I actually like the grain (noise)! Sure, I could have used an off camera flash but I really wanted to bring out the colors of the leaves in the foreground and the leaves of the trees in the background. It’s just a reminder to myself that not every image has to be perfect technically to be perfect emotionally. *steps off soapbox*
