Anna and Josh’s Engagement Session at Wellesley College

Anna and Josh are a pair of adventurous souls that are a match made in heaven. They met four years ago and clicked immediately, realizing they each had found their soulmate! They love doing all sorts of exciting outdoor activities together, including camping, hiking and mud racing. They now have a cat, Lily, together, and are excited for the next step in their relationship. Josh proposed to Anna on beautiful Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, the perfect setting for the outdoor-loving couple!

When Anna and Josh reached out to me initially, we bonded immediately over our mutual love for the outdoors, hiking, and cats. We had a great time getting to know each other over our first phone call, realizing we were similar in many ways and would be an excellent fit for working together for their wedding! They booked me immediately and we got to work planning for their upcoming December wedding at Valley View Farm.

In preparation for their big day, we planned an engagement session at Wellesley College to get a feel for how we worked with each other for photography and so they could get some beautiful images for their wedding invitations. When I met them in person for the first time, I felt so at home and comfortable with them as they were incredibly fun, friendly and excited for their session! We started shooting by some tall grassy fields that were touched gold by the setting sun and provided an amazing backdrop for their session.

As soon as we started, Anna and Josh were so natural in front of the camera I couldn’t believe they had never posed for professional pictures before! We had a blast walking down the winding paths of the gorgeous campus, stopping every now and then for a few posed shots in the golden light. I had them try a variety of different poses and locations as we walked through the college grounds. They jumped at each suggestion and nailed every one! Along the way, we had so much fun connecting over our recent hikes, camping trips and outdoor adventures. We even made plans to go rock climbing together!

We spent some time by Paintshop Pond, the body of water on the edge of the campus. There, we stumbled upon a lone Adirondack chair and I knew we had to incorporate it into the photos somehow! I had Josh sit down in the chair overlooking the lake, and got Anna to sit on his lap with her legs kicked up to the side for a casual, intimate look as they kissed. I enjoy adding a double exposure to one or two images from each engagement session, so later while editing the photos, I added a shot of their hands touching to the image to get a beautiful composite.

As our session winded down, we returned towards the center of campus to look for some old college buildings for a few architectural backgrounds. Josh spotted a stunning green-painted door crowned with ivy and complete with an old-fashioned lantern light that looked straight out of a Harry Potter movie! We agreed this would be the perfect ending location for our shoot. I took some photos of the pair in front of the door, and a few more of them in various poses sitting together on the stairs. Again, they were such naturals with posing and so comfortable with each other and being in front of the camera that it was hard to get any bad photos!

We wrapped up the session and headed back to the parking lot, having had an amazing time! This session was the most fun I’ve had on an engagement shoot in awhile and I can’t wait for their big day this winter. Check out some of the fun-filled images below!