Parks

Hastings, MN Engagement Photographer | Jessalyn and Matt

photocrati gallery Love travels great distances

It took me a few read-throughs of Matt's initial email inquiry to make sense of his request. You see, Matt is a Cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, and he wanted to schedule engagement photos In Minnesota. Simple, I thought. His fiancée must be from Minnesota. Nope. Oh and one more problem. He wasn't engaged either. He wanted to surprise Jessalyn with a proposal.

It turns out Matt and Jessalyn share more than a love for one another. They're woven into to the fabric of the U.S. armed forces. Jessalyn grew up all over the world in the military family, so when it became time to go to college she wanted to find a school as close to family as she could back stateside. She ended up in St. Paul. And though Matt figured a wedding would happen in his home state of Florida, he wanted to have an engagement photo session in Minnesota so that Jessalyn could always remember this special time in their lives. Aww ...

Once I figured it all out, I loved the idea and couldn't wait to meet up with the couple in person. Matt did indeed surprise Jessalyn with an unscheduled visit with the ring in tote. She giddily said yes and two weeks later the engagement photos above were made!

Matt's vision for the session was simple: he wanted it to be outdoors without a huge focus on where they were photographed. Instead, he wanted the love he and Jessalyn have for each other to take center stage. We chose Spring Lake Regional Park in Hastings, MN as the setting as the fall colors were at their peak. In addition we were greeted with a dramatic sunrise upon our arrival, which made me even more excited.

We quickly drove to a farmer's field and captured the first few frames before we even introduced ourselves! I didn't want to miss the gold and magenta hues of the freshly harvested corn set against deep blue sky. After a quick warm up in the car, we finally had a chance to introduce ourselves and plot out the rest of the engagement photos. I think it's pretty obvious Matt's vision came to life. The two were so great to work with, and so clearly enamored by each other's presence that it made simple work for me. I'd love to know what you think. Please comment on or share this post if you like what you see. Thanks for viewing!

— Dan