A Portrait Session to Remember
Periodically, I’ll go through my photo archives and remember a particular event, trip, or memory. Think of it like a Lightroom-based rediscovery.
One such album dive took me back to the summer of 2012, and one of my most memorable engagement photo sessions with my high school friends Matt and Jennifer in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Matt and Jennifer were high school friends of mine, and we headed out to Mud Lake on what turned out to be one of those perfect July evenings – where the golden-hour light does all the work, and everything just clicks.
It was the first time I’d ever shown up to a shoot with an actual plan. Jen had come prepared with multiple outfits and ideas, and we worked through different setups and styles throughout the night.
And then the sun started to set and – voila – instant magic.
Looking back, I didn’t really know what I was doing in a technical sense. I was so new at photography. But I knew enough to recognize that I had two beautiful people in front of me on a beautiful summer night, and I just made the most of it.
Oh, to be young again.
When I look at those photos now, they take me back to what that evening felt like.
We had such a good time that they asked me to shoot their wedding a few months later.
It was a magical summer night that really set the tone – my preferences, the magic of what light can do – for everything I’ve done ever since.