Chris + Alex | Engaged

I am tied to these two in so many ways.I grew up going every year to the handsome Chris’s family’s Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree for the holiday season…one that was large and full and that held the handmade ornaments from five childrens’ grade school projects.  If we were really lucky, we got a homemade Christmas wreath as well!And Alex…it was as if I was meeting her for the first time, but really I just had not seen her since she was two or three years old.  Her father was my jr. high school science teacher and on occasion I babysat for Alex when she was a toddler…I even remember the one time she walked to her crib and ASKED to be put to bed!  I look back on that memory and hope that it was because I was THAT much fun instead of I was THAT boring that she’d rather have been asleep!In any case, these two beautiful people have been a couple since JR. HIGH!!!  And this coming March I get the wonderful honor of capturing their wedding day!  And I cannot wait!Alex and Chris, it was such a pleasure walking with you around Chris’s family farm and chatting with you…about our hometown, people we know in common, and just life in general!  You are a beautiful couple…inside and out…and I’m so honored to capture this exciting time in your life!Blessings to you!Kelly

I always start each engagement session with the more formal poses…the poses I call the “Grandparent pictures”…they go in a 5x7 on the shelf or in the dining room!

From there it’s a pretty short time before we start getting more casual with our poses…really working towards reflecting the true personality of their relationship, and Chris and Alex did not disappoint!  It was such a short time before they were at ease with the camera and laughing!

You want us to do what, Kelly?

These two were up to try anything with me!

 I love, love, love, this image so much!!  Behind them is the pond where Chris asked Alex to marry him.

This is the one spot where Chris was like, “You want to take a picture HERE?”  What you can’t see is that in the background and back behind the tree is a bunch of farm equipment.

It ended up one of my favorites from the evening!!

And then Chris suggested we head over to the old pump house, where during the spring rain family members will take turns staying up all night monitoring the water levels of the lake nearby making sure that they fields and homes don’t get flooded.  It was EVERYTHING that I love in a spot, great windows letting in just a bit of light!  And then despite all of the images from earlier that I knew I would love, I instantly knew that this series from the pump house would take the cake and be my favorites!