Franklin Falls Engagement Session

Where do I start with these two? If you ask me, they are the perfect American love story.. he served his country and she taught kindergarten. They have two dogs and an adorable house in the outskirts of town, and that’s just the start. They’ve know each other since middle school, grew up together, parted ways and came right back together and fell in love. He served in a war, she waited patiently, and six years later without hesitation, she said yes. Neither of them could wait any longer. Five weeks after he got down on one knee they eloped in the forest in the great pacific northwest. I had the privilege of being a part of their engagement pictures and reception, obstacles occurred but nothing could dim the light behind their eyes.

We shot their engagement pictures at Franklin Falls. Two natural born adventures, a hike in the woods was a perfect match for their upcoming elopement. Our original plan was altered on fairly short notice but we rolled with punches. In an attempt to avoid unfavorable weather we diverted our location and thought we could outrun the storm. As PNW natives, no one was entirely shocked that the forecast evolved time and time again. Two days and the bride to be texted me “Its supposed to rain, we can cancel if we need to.” I said no, of course, and we continued on with the plan. Morning of we woke up to dark grey skies, 100% chance of rain on the weather apps and she sent me another message. “Okay, its supposed to really really rain :(” … “If you’re in, I’m in.” was all I had to say. We met at the parking lot where they laughed, bickered and bantered about his choice in hats. We had managed to get in front of the rain storm by about thirty minutes. We hiked in as quick as we could and got a handful of shots before the skies opened up, and boy do I mean opened up. At a certain point you couldn’t tell what was spray from the waterfall and what was just torrential downpour.

Honestly though, the rain was perfect. The pair danced and laughed and soaked them selves to the bones. The shoot was so authentic and unexpected, they fully embraced every obstacle and loved each other through the process. It was the perfect example of their love, it was unplanned, pure and convicted. Nothing could stop them and they had no plan of slowing down. Congrats you too, the world is in front of you.

-Amanda