Haley & John: Summer North Park Engagement Photos

Haley and John met at a Panera Bread, of all places - they met in line while ordering their food, ended up striking up a conversation, sitting together, and have been inseparable ever since! John popped the question just last month while they were in Erie, and I had the honor of celebrating with them by taking their engagement photos this past month! And let me tell you - they were sooo easy to photograph! So sweet, and so in love. Not to mention North Park was looking especially beautiful with all of its gorgeous golden light!

Congratulations on your engagement, Haley & John! I couldn't be more excited to photograph your wedding day!

Cailey K: North Park Senior Photos

Cailey is a hockey-playing senior from Pine Richland who is just the cutest! Even though it sprinkled throughout about half of Cailey's session, she was a trooper and didn't let the rain dampen her spirit! We had so much fun hanging out with her - congratulations on your last year of school, Cailey!

4 Tips for Preparing Your Groom for Your Engagement Session

Are you a bride who’s wondering how your groom will react to having his photo taken? You are most certainly not alone! One of the biggest questions I am asked by my brides is how to prepare her groom for the engagement session. So many of my couples who were nervous before their session walk away saying: “Wow! That was actually fun.” And that’s what it’s about – not just getting some great photos, but actually having fun while doing it!

So if you’re a bride who’s a little bit nervous about how your groom might react to the engagement session, here are a few of my top tips:

1.  Sit down and show him a couple of your favorite blog posts or galleries by your photographer.

Sometimes the scariest thing about going into something new is the unknown – the same is true for going into an engagement session! In most (not all) cases, the bride is the one looking for and booking the wedding photographer, which means that she will already be very familiar with the style, look, and posing associated with a particular photographer by the time the engagement session rolls around. However, if a groom hasn’t been involved in picking the wedding photographer (or has only seen a few samples of work), they could be a bit blind-sided going into a session by what to expect. By looking at a few blog posts or galleries the night before your engagement session, a bride will give her groom realistic expectations for how the session will pan out!

2.  Leave early to arrive ahead of schedule!

This tip might not seem like it fits quite as well, but I know from photographing many sessions (and from being in a relationship myself ;) ) that timeliness can sometimes be a point of contention between any two people who love each other! Be sure to leave early enough to arrive on time to your session. Starting off your session in an argumentative manner from tardiness can put a damper on the beginning of the shoot!

3.  Plan to do something fun together afterwards.

So maybe taking photos isn’t necessarily your guy’s favorite thing to do – or maybe he’s nervous because he’s never had his photo taken professionally before! Whatever the case, plan to do something fun before or afterwards that you can both look forward to – whether it’s going out to dinner, seeing a movie, going out for ice-cream – having something fun to plan for after your session will give you both something to look forward to and will make your night for getting engagement photos done more into a date night!

4. Have patience & be an encourager.

Getting your photo taken can be awkward if you've never had it done before, or if it's been a while! Don't forget to have patience and grace with your groom, especially if he's feeling uneasy. It's completely normal to feel nervous before having your photo taken - the best thing you can do is continue to encourage and build up your groom throughout the whole process!

And just to show that it is possible for guys to have fun during the engagement session, here are a few of my favorite photos of grooms genuinely enjoying their session:

Gail + Jake: North Park Engagement Photographer

What a sweet love these two have! We met up with Gail and Jake for their engagement session a few weeks ago at North Park. They were willing to sit in weeds, climb fences, and lay on the ground just to get some awesome photos (you guys are troopers!!). Though, we did end the session with a cup of raspberry twist ice cream, which hopefully made up for all of the crazy locations ;)

Fun random fact about these two: Jake grows sunflowers in his yard for Gail, hence the sunflower used in a few of the photos below. They also plan on having sunflowers at their wedding! I love those sweet little details. Congratulations again to an incredibly sweet couple!