Grace | High School Senior Portraits | Urban Downtown and Mountain Top Sunset | Shenandoah National Park

I feel like senior sessions should capture who you were growing up and where you are now. So, Grace and I ran all around downtown Luray, the town she’s grown up in, to find all the most meaningful and pretty freaking awesome spots. From the back of the art gallery and coffee shop to the old staircases she remembered going up for church events, and to the used bookstore. I wanted to find locations that reminded me of her, and I think we ticked them all. We even went up on the Shenandoah National Park (where it had reached freezing) and only stayed there for a short time before going back down into the Valley - all while listening to her favorite band, BTS. We picked up her dog Finn and went to her grandma’s back yard to swing and run around a bit in the field as the sun finally set. It was my all-time favorite senior session, because we were able to fit in so many locations, so many pieces of her.

Molly & Zach | Shenandoah National Park | Blue Ridge Mountain Engagement Session

The rock wall up on the Blue Ridge Parkway has become a theme this year. I have climbed along this wall and have had others climb along this wall countless times. Every single time, it is a different experience. Between the weather, the sky, the colors on the Park and the people who I am there with, it’s honestly been so emotional sharing something so spectacular with so many wonderful people.

I met up with Molly and Zach a couple months ago at the venue where their wedding will be next year - we mostly talked about our love for Iceland (where they got engaged!!) and the dramatic ponies there. I knew we’d get along well, and then we had their engagement session which was even more fun.

The fall colors on Skyline Drive have been a bit delayed this year, and I thought we wouldn’t get much of that epic color - but I was wrong, and we did. That Autumn sun warmed everything right up there at the end of the day, and just about killed me.

Also, I am a fan of anyone who likes a good dress, and Molly’s dress for this shoot was perfect.

Allie & Greg | Shenandoah National Park | Blue Ridge Mountain and Forest Engagement Session

The way couples meet is always my favorite thing to learn about them during a shoot, but this topped everything ever : These two met on the highway! Allie was just driving along with her sister and friends when a mustang packed with guys held up a sign with a phone number on it. Which worked out incredibly well, because now she is marrying one of those very guys. This is my favorite story ever, and I liked it even more after getting to know Allie and Greg because they are really freaking sweet and fun together. We talked about picking up some other hikers on the side of the road as we drove along Skyline Drive to see if they’d want to be in the pictures, just to keep the theme going (we didn’t, these two were enough awesome on their own. Maybe for their wedding.)