Rebecca & Alec | In-home Engagement Session

Perhaps I tend to over-romanticize the simple things.  I am recalling a time when Rich said "Jess, sometimes a picture of me brushing my teeth is JUST a picture of me brushing my teeth."   But I can't help it!  That is what photography does.  It freezes a seemingly normal everyday exchange and forces us to experience it slower, with emotion.  The nostalgia is built right in. 

Rebecca and Alec wanted to ride their bikes around the lake by their house, bring a blanket and seek out some changing leaves. The moment they mentioned staying close to home I pictured a cozy fall evening, hot chocolate and arms wrapped around each other.  

Why?  Because when Rich's parents chat with us about those first years together, they tell us about the small apartment, being completely poor, covering cardboard boxes with sheets to use as nightstands and spending their last dime on a fancy date night dinner; and you FEEL it.  Because my friend Katie didn't clean up all the toys or apologize for a lack of space when I came to visit, but hugged and played and loved on her baby all morning. Because I have a little wooden box on our shelves that I am filling with images from our home, because I already know I will miss our little quirky apartment and the stories we are creating there. 

And because Rebecca and Alec don't need to be on a mountaintop to proclaim their love.  They love each other right up close, and this session was about the spaces that fills.  

Ashley & T | Minneapolis Engagement Session

I am an engineer.  This means I absolutely love a quiet coffee shop to edit for hours (the reason why I can get you your wedding gallery in less than two weeks), am happy to go through all the details of your day, and am constantly challenging myself to learn new things.  

What this also means though is I have a giant personal space bubble!!   While my family, ENFP dominated friend group, and husband have been trying to break this (I am literally surrounded by people who's love language is touch)  it still takes me awhile to warm up.  

So I am not sure what was about Ashley and T; their inviting personalities, her contagious smile, the way he can make her eyes light up.  But something called me to come in close.  AND IT WAS SO POWERFUL.   Combining story alongside these intimate portraits I can feel their love pulse right through me in these images.