One of the keys word I use to describe my photography style is romantic- and this fall engagement session is overflowing with romance.

Believe it or not, the work I do is not just for my couples.  It does a lot for me in both my professional and personal growth.  This session in particular is breaking down a lot of barriers I’ve created for myself: comparison, style, preference.  As the popularity of photography has grown, it becomes hard to stand out in the crowd.  You can find yourself easily swirling down the drain of comparison and self-doubt.  One of the biggest struggles for me has been identifying with styles that I love, but also defining my own style- one that I love even if it’s different from the people who’s work I also admire.  And as for preference- I’m learning that it’s okay to have preferences.  I don’t have to stick to something just because someone said that’s how it should be done.  Particularly, as I shoot more with film, I’m learning that it’s okay for me to prefer how a film image looks over a digital and vice versa.  Both mediums have incredible ways of capturing art.

You want to put your Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving?  Go for it!  You want to be traditional and not see your groom before the wedding?  Do it.  I’m becoming less dependent on other people’s opinions of me and more in tuned to setting my own expectations for myself.

But okay, enough of me.  Let’s talk about Rick and Erica.  These two- holy cow.  Yes, they are beautiful people.  But you know why these images are really beautiful?  Because they display love, romance, and joy.  These are truly the most beautiful things to capture.  While it looks similar to another fall engagement session from last year, it was about 25 degrees cooler.  But can you tell it was in the low 40’s that morning?  I don’t think so!

This romantic fall engagement session at Wildwood Metropark in Toledo was shot hybrid with both film and digital.  And while I try my best to match the two up, it was hard to get them exactly the same.  And you know what- that’s okay in my book.  I love how both mediums captured this session in different ways.  I love EVERYTHING about these images, and even had to hold back on what to post because they are all so stinking good!