Montrose Harbor is easily my favorite location in the city. It has tons of nature, a perfect view of the skyline, a harbor full of boats, and the beach—So much variety in one spot! I had never done a sunrise session there until Jen and Ryan’s photos, and it just may be my new favorite time of day to do them! We had beautiful lighting and pretty much the entire harbor to ourselves. We also swung by one of the couple’s favorite spots, Hotel Zachary, to snap a few more photos there. I am excited to share some of them with you!

And since we are in the heart of engagement session season, I thought it was a good time to talk a little bit about the “engagement session anxiety” that most couples get leading up to their session (I know I stressed out before my own engagement photos). I always try to make my couples feel comfortable in front of the camera, but it is only natural to be a little bit nervous…  What should we wear? (Something that makes you feel confident!) Are we going to look awkward in the photos? (No.) What if it rains? (Rain makes for romantic photos! We can also reschedule.) These are all common questions and concerns, but I promise that you have nothing to worry about. I will make sure that you spend most of the time laughing, mostly because I say stupid stuff and I will also have you do random things like spin around and dance in the middle of a field. 

To help put some of you at ease as you prepare for your sessions, I asked Jen a few questions about their experience:

How much thought went into your outfits? “Too much. In reality it was just me freaking out about what we should wear. We have never had professional photos taken so I was not sure what would truly photograph well. I wanted pictures to be something we could look back on years from now and still have a ‘classic’ look. I way over-thought it looking back now.” 

Were you nervous at all leading up to it? If so, what were you most worried about? “We had such a hard time with the weather cooperating for us that each time we had to reschedule I got more and more nervous. Ryan wasn’t nervous until right before we started taking photos. I think we were both nervous that we would look stiff and awkward in the photos. Since we ended up taking the photos at 7 a.m. we didn’t really have time before hand to loosen up.”

What was your favorite part about the session? “I think the best part was the jokes we were cracking with each other when we were in poses that weren’t “natural” to us. I don’t think Ryan had ever picked me up and twirled me around a field up until this point so goofing around and making each other laugh while taking the photos made everything easier and is a fond memory neither of us will forget.  Some of our favorite photos are ones where we are clearly mid-laugh and had sort of forgot the camera was there.”

Thank you for sharing with us Jen! And check out a sneak peek of their session below to see how beautiful everything turned out. 🙂