When you think of an engagement session different than other ones and out of the ordinary, well this is it!
When I met Sarah & Alex I knew immediately that they would be fun, but never did I know that they would push me outside my comfort zone…

We started the portraits with their super cute and very suspicious puppy, Kali. She could not get comfortable for pictures.. Seeing her expressions was hilarious! Like why did they bring me out here?! And why is that lady following us around?! I can’t get over with how cute she is..

They then went for a romantic canoe ride and the light was just perfect. They had told me their story and even though I am terrified of any kind of reptiles, I knew it would make their day to include some sort of lizard in their pictures, so I asked them and their faces literally lit up…

We ended up hiking and chasing a beautiful sunset overlooking the Appalachian Mountains…
Here is more about them!

How did you meet?: Sarah & Alex met at a field station. “Just a typical love story” Sarah said: two people ventured into the woods at night to look for salamanders and immediately fell for each other. Sarah and Alex met at Mountain Lake Biological Station in 2014. Alex had just started his Ph. D. research at the field station studying salamanders, and Sarah was enrolled in the Field Herpetology course. Naturally, the two quickly noticed each other. Alex was impressed with Sarah's knowledge of reptiles and amphibians, her love of nature, and her sassy attitude. Sarah was struck by Alex's passion for salamanders and conservation, his contagious smile, and his ability to see the good in everything.

How did he propose?: Sarah was living and working at the Stone Laboratory on an island in Lake Erie, chasing and capturing the previously endangered Lake Erie watersnake. Her team was charged with monitoring snake populations and sharing their love and knowledge of snakes with the public. After four months apart, Alex joined Sarah for a month to enjoy the islands while writing his dissertation. During a beautiful sunset over Lake Erie on October 5th, 2017, Alex proposed to Sarah and (SPOILER ALERT) she said yes!! The two celebrated their new engagement with a bottle of champagne at a local speakeasy.

They got engaged at a field station. And they are getting married NEAR a field station!

What is your favorite thing to do together?: Almost anything outdoors or with our pup Kali! Hiking and looking for reptiles and amphibians are very high on the list! We also love to travel, sometimes quite spontaneously!

Tell me one funny story about the two of you!: At some point when we were first dating, Alex thought it would be funny to change his name to Mr. Handsome in my phone. A few years later, we were both working for the same conservation organization and Sarah sent an email to our supervisors with Alex copied as Mr. Handsome. Turns out, Gmail can access your iPhone contacts and replace email addresses with the contact name from your phone. It took quite a few months for our colleagues to let that one go.

Looking forward to their 2019 wedding! And here are my favorites from their engagement portraits… If you like what you see and you would like to contact me for a session, click HERE!