Posts tagged Chagrin Falls | Page 2 of 2 | Columbus Wedding Photographer

This year has certainly been one of engagement sessions. The vast majority of my wedding clients choose to include a personalized engagement session. In addition, I’m often contacted by couples looking for stand-alone engagement sessions, typically due to out-of-town or destination weddings. So is the case for Sara and Ryan. They will be getting married out-of-town next year and they needed a special engagement session during the autumn season.

We met up at Jeni’s Ice Cream in Chagrin Falls. I don’t know how, but all three of us resisted getting a scoop, which is a tough act of will power. As we wandered around downtown Chagrin Falls, we talked about how they met and how they got engaged. Like Brooke and I, they simply met at a bar. Sometimes a simply story is a good story. I asked about their careers. Both Sara and Ryan work for the military, which is not unusual for my clients. However, after hearing a client has a military career, I tend not to ask additional questions. Not because I’m not interested, but because questions can often be met with “I can’t talk about it.”

We decided to mix up Sara and Ryan’s engagement session a little. We worked around downtown Chagrin Falls, and then headed for a local MetroPark in the valley.

Below are just a few favorites to share from their all-film engagement session –

Autumn engagement session in Chagrin Falls with Sara and Ryan

I think the above and below are my favorites. They came out just perfectly and really represent Sara and Ryan as a couple.

Autumn engagement session in Chagrin Falls with Sara and Ryan

The evening sunlight in the MetroPark was simply perfect. Some locals may object to their Steelers outfits, but I don’t discriminate 😉

Autumn engagement session in Chagrin Falls with Sara and Ryan

So that’s all for this personalized engagement session captured on film. For the photographers out there, this is Fuji 400h on Contax 645. The black and whites are still Fuji 400h, but desaturated. Nothing but the best!

When planning an engagement session, I always ask clients about locations special to them. For example, a place they often visit together, where they had their first date, or where they were engaged. Whenever possible, these locations are then included in engagement sessions. For Sarah and Mike, the answer was immediate and obvious – it just had to be Holden Arboretum. Holden is a favorite place of mine. In fact, we are members. More importantly though, it’s special for Sarah and Mike as well.

When we first met, Sarah told me about how Mike proposed. Mike worked with Sarah’s father to identify Holden as the perfect spot. He created a trail through the arboretum, lined with lights and candles. The edges of the trail was dotted with photographs of Sarah and Mike together. At the end stood Mike, waiting under a pergola. To be clear, it was a pergola, and not an arbor 😉

Sarah was led to the path and followed it from there. At the end was Mike, a ring, and a big happy YES! So we just had to return to Holden. We had to stand under the pergola, visit the willow, and bathe in the evening sun. Afterwards, we decided to visit their home town. We dropped by downtown Chagrin Falls. We had some Jeni’s Ice Cream, wandered, chatted, and grabbed a few more portraits.

Below are just a few favorites, but it was hard to choose. Everything from that evening just seemed so perfect.