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Country Engagement

James and Nicole – Cathedral Oaks Engagement Photos

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The wedding day is a pretty busy affair. There is a schedule to keep, guests to serve, and a whole mess of other logistics to manage (a good planner is your friend!). Photography is important, but it has to slot into the schedule. Engagement photo sessions don’t have any of those complications. They give us time to have a little fun and for everyone to let their hair down (or put it all the way up). That freedom let us make some really fun Cathedral Oaks engagement photos for Nicole and James.

Cute engagement photos under the huge oak trees at Cathedral Oaks in Belton.

Cathedral Oaks Engagement Photos

Sometimes our engagement photos take us far afield. We stayed closer to home for Nicole and James, specifically in Belton, TX. Their wedding was going to be at Cathedral Oaks and they loved the towering oak trees. As soon as their engagement photo session kicked off, I realized that Nicole and James are wacky fun.

Cute engagement photos under the huge oak trees at Cathedral Oaks in Belton.

Cute engagement photos under the huge oak trees at Cathedral Oaks in Belton.

Nicole and James at Cathedral Oaks for their Engagement Photos - Having fun under the large oak trees at sunset.

They had a great chemistry and pretty much riffed off each other the entire session. James even got tackled by Nicole at one point…

Cute engagement photos under the huge oak trees at Cathedral Oaks in Belton.

Why yes, we will climb a tree and snuggle in it…

Cute engagement photos under the huge oak trees at Cathedral Oaks in Belton.

Engagement Photos Under the Stars

After spending sunset at Cathedral Oaks, we headed a little south to the the San Gabriel river in Jonah. This is a local fishing and swimming spot during the summer. The river flows over a flat limestone bed. Most places it is inches deep, and it runs still unless there has been recent rain. That means reflections. Add a dose of Texas stars and, well, see for yourself.

Jonah Engagement Photos on the San Gabriel River under the stars.

With a little bit of wading through ankle deep water (not to mention careful foot placement) you can get out into the center of the river. Mist was rising off the water thanks to the cooler fall temperatures.

Jonah Engagement Photos on the San Gabriel River under the stars.

Did I mention that Nicole and James like to have fun and are a little nerdy? We got along really well. 🙂

Fun geeky star wars inspired fun during an engagement session under the stars. James holds a toy light-saber and Nicole has a prop blaster.

A little quick work with a drill and some battery powered Christmas lights gave us a light up light saber. Nicole borrowed one of my prop-pained blasters.

Fun geeky star wars inspired fun during an engagement session under the stars. James holds a toy light-saber and Nicole has a prop blaster.

These aren’t the most elaborate cos-play photos (or even cos-play at all) I’ve ever made, but they are a lot of fun.

Haley and Hunter Engagement

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We love to create engagement sessions that match our couple’s lifestyle. Haley and Hunter love the outdoors and are both sportsmen. We headed to a friends farm out near Little River for some outdoor sportsman engagement photos.

Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Hunter and Haley fishing along Little River during a Country Texas Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Things kicked off with a little fishin’. Haley hooked a bass right off.

Hunter and Haley Little River Country Texas Engagement Fishing in the Pond - Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Hunter and Haley Little River Country Texas Engagement Fishing in the Pond - Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Hunter, very thoughtfully we thought, made sure to only catch a tiny bass. I’m sure he just didn’t want to overshadow Haley’s catch.

Hunter and Haley Little River Country Texas Engagement Fishing in the Pond - Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Hunter and Haley Little River Country Texas Engagement Fishing in the Pond - Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Hunter and Haley Little River Country Texas Engagement Fishing in the Pond - Outdoor Sportsman Engagement

Fishing complete, our outdoor couple headed back to base camp and changed for the second half of their engagement session.

Getting Prettied Up

 

Hunter and Haley doing and outdoor sportsman engagement near Little River.

Hunter and Haley doing and outdoor sportsman engagement near Little River.

Haley and Hunter's engagement ring on a barb wire fence.

The bard wire contrasts with the beauty of Haley’s engagement ring. I liked how the rust and light blue of the corrugated sheet metal wall behind the ring complimented the ring. The barbed wire seemed fitting for this outdoor couple. Their friends farm had interesting hills, and erosion features.

Hunter and Haley doing and outdoor sportsman engagement near Little River.

Hunter and Haley doing and outdoor sportsman engagement near Little River.

Haley put on a beautiful flowing copper colored dress and Hunter went with the class: jeans, boots and a button down shirt. The rolling hills of eastern-central Texas, the fall colors and their outfits all go perfectly together.

Lindsey and Chase: A Canoeing Adventure Engagement

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Start with a bucket of west Texas hill country sunshine, a canoe, a couple of kayaks and finally splash on some some water. Lindsey and Chase wanted to revisit one of their early adventures as a couple so we packed up our camera gear and headed out to the Llano river near Chase’s family ranch.

We set out on a “3 hour tour” down a beautiful and largely wild section of the river and didn’t see anyone else after the first thirty minutes.  We had fun taking photos along the way and stopped at a couple of special locations like the red cliffs for portraits. Three hours turned to 6 and we got to finish the paddle under the milky way.

Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

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Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

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Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

Chase and Lindsey Kayaking Engagement on Llano River

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Jason and Shay: Inks Lake Adventure Engagement in Burnet

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The Texas hill country is full of beautiful locations to explore and we love it when couples say yes to exploring them during their engagement session. Jason and Shey met us for an Inks Lake Adventure Engagement. Check out (and I don’t normally get to say this) Shay’s adventure giraffe bridal shoot.

Reflective Inks Lake Adventure Engagement

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Creative Engagement Photos - Reflection Engagement Portrait - Austin Adventure Engagement

Inks lake is a beautiful natural location for engagement photos. The rugged landscape fit Shay and Jason’s adventurous spirit perfectly. Thanks to some recent rain, there were even reflective puddles on the granite.

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Creative Engagement Photos - Hill Country Engagement Portrait - Austin Adventure Engagement

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Creative Engagement Photos - Hill Country Engagement Portrait - Austin Adventure Engagement

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Sunset Engagement Photos - Hill Country Engagement Portrait - Austin Adventure Engagement

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Blue Hour Engagement Photos - Hill Country Engagement Portrait - Austin Adventure Engagement

Starry Engagement Photos

The stars were big and bright over Shay and Jason. They said yes to hanging out and waiting for full dark. Then the fun began.

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Starry Night Portrait - Star Engagement - Austin Adventure Engagement

Inks Lake Adventure Engagement - Starry Night Portrait - Star Engagement - Austin Adventure Engagement

Joseph and Sara – Texas Hill Country Engagement

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It’s always a special privilege to work for another professional photographer. When our friend Joseph asked us to be his wedding photographer, we were honored. There is a validation that goes with that, but also special responsibility and pressure. Phase one is the engagement shoot, and it is probably my favorite part of wedding photography. The ideal engagement session isn’t fast. It is relaxed and it is fun. I think relaxed and fun sums up Joseph and Sara’s hill country engagement.

We had a blast and made a ton of fun photos around the hill country. Picking the set for this blog was no easy task. The day began at the Stargazer cabin outside Fredericksburg with clear blue skies, tall brown grass and post oaks. We strolled up and down Main St in Fredericksburg for a bit, seeing the sites and making images. We hung out and chatted over a relaxed lunch at Rothskeller while we all flipped through the photos and talked about growing up in small town Texas.

Our plans hit a slight snag at Enchanted rock… The park was closed due to a managed hunt going on, so we diverted to Inks Lake. Luckily, we had time for the change in plans and spent sunset having some fun (including a cliff diving photobomb) around Devil’s Watering Hole.

Hopefully you like the images as much as we do.

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Joseph and Sara - Texas Hill Country Engagement-0011

Britt & Kristina: Burnet Engagement Portraits

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Britt & Kristina have a love of water, and in planning their engagement portraits we discussed a few options but settled on one of our favorite locations, Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, Texas. The team there is fantastic, good people. Anyhow, our first setup involved Britt & Kristina on a pier. Josh being the adventuresome sort knew that the right angle required him to be a few feet in the water, and after 3 steps, he was in the water, up to his neck. College beer skills saved his favorite camera from taking a drink.
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Once the normal photoshoot tension was shattered, we rollicked through three outfit and light changes around the lake at Reveille Peak. The other super cool location was on the back side of the dam where the overflowing water has revealed the pink granite. This was a tough part to shoot, happy with what we got, but already looking forward to getting more from this wave location.

Britt mentioned that he was a photography minor in college, so now we have to plan something outrageous for their wedding. Leave any crazy suggestions in the comments.

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Shannon & Ryan: Meridian Engagement

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A jeep, a faithful dog, a quiet place on the river. Shannon & Ryan’s engagement session is about as idyllic as can be imagined. We trekked up to the thriving metropolis of Meridian, Texas to photograph the happy couple. The field of tall grass with the lone tree near the center was enough to photograph on it’s own. The sun was coming in low over the horizon and Buck the Dog was happily jumping and pouncing in and out of the camera’s view. The day ended at sunset at a hunter’s retreat a few minutes down the road. We photographed until we could see no more and then talked while the fireflies lit up the lodge. Thanks to Ryan for hosting us, and to Shannon for making sure he dressed well. See yall in July!

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