Tyler & Martin: A rural Virginia engagement session

Today I have a very special engagement session to share. Whenever another photographer asks me to photograph them, I get nervous. I know how critical we all can be of ourselves but I ultimately wanted Tyler & Martin to have a great time and enjoy one another. After the photos, read what Tyler & Martin had to say about their session!

All of these were shot with portra 400.

FROM TYLER (the bride)
I’ll attempt to give the short version… Martin and I actually grew up in the same town and even went to the same high school but never really met until my last year of college. While we were away at our respective schools our younger brothers became friends which resulted in our mothers becoming very close. So that fateful summer our families did a dinner together and things just fell into place. We spent the evening talking design, movies and music and then I asked him out for a beer. Now five years later we’re making our wedding plans (and have two happy families)!
When we started planning our engagement session, we knew creating something both visually interesting and emotionally charged was really important to us (especially since Martin is a videographer and I’m a photographer and designer). We also knew that we needed a photographer that would understand our visions (and who’s style we just loved). I had taken notice of Katie’s work over a year ago when I spotted her a couple blogs and I new she was the girl for the job - plus she still shoots film, swoon!
The next step was figuring out all the details so we started with the things we love. We are both very into music (we got engaged during The Flaming Lips at Bonnaroo), good (vegetarian friendly) food and beer and knew those elements had to be a big part of our session. From that point we had a great time coming up with each “scene” we wanted captured - from our favorite restaurant (The Little Grille) to hitch hiking in the country and finally creating an indie picnic in the forest. Picking out all the props and outfits was good fun too - I had never gone shopping for aesthetically pleasing cheese before! We also sourced our family and friends for the right floppy hat, vintage suitcases and a fabulously worn rug. Once we had gotten everything together and finally gotten great weather, it was time for Katie to work her magic. The three of us set out on a journey from downtown Harrisonburg out to the country and could not have had a better time (even with a fallen tree threatening our way back home)! A big thanks to Katie Stoops for everything - we could not be any happier with the end result!
FROM MARTIN:

We chose a place we loved; for the sake of adventure, an activity we loved in a place we had never done it; and a cliche to embrace and love because, in the pursuit of creativity you cannot run away from them all.

As a photographer and a videographer respectively, Tyler and I are forever creating pretty pictures, yet rarely are we ever the subjects together in them. It was a surreal pleasure to prepare the stage, iron out the wardrobe, and then for once, forget all about angles and lighting, and just share each other’s company; actors together under the gaze of Katie’s divine lens.