Warm Winter Engagement Session | Hannah Barlow Photography

Hello! Hello, everyone!

AHHHHH!!  Did you miss this?!  I sure did miss this!  Blogging, that is!  Last year…coming into the end of the year…I was feeling very much just…tired.  The end of wedding season was there and I was still plugging along into January posting the end of year blog goodness!  On average, engagement blogs take me about 2 hours whereas weddings take about 4+ hours.  I know…I know…I’ve even had professional photographers and instructors tell me that something is wrong if it takes me that long to blog, but you all know!  You know what happens in a Hannah Barlow Photography wedding blog!  It’s not an ordinary engagement or wedding photography blog, right?!  RIGHT!  It’s not “hard” for me to write a blog but it’s definitely time consuming!  So, at one point last year, I found myself thinking, “I’m sure glad people love these because my fingers and brain are tired!”  But now, here I am realizing how much I miss it when I’m not actively doing one once or twice a week.  So, with that being said, I’m just SO stinking excited to introduce this couple’s engagement photos to you!  It feels so good to throw some more beautiful people up on my blog!  It’s a good one too!  Everyone, meet Kristen and Adam!

They’re the lucky ones to be the first of my warm sessions for 2019!  I can feel it…spring is coming!  YAY!  While I do love a good, winter engagement session, there comes a time when my fingers just want to be warm again so I can actually feel the shutter button and I’m not digging for my hand warmers in my pockets…and this session did NOT disappoint.  It wasn’t just the weather that was warm either.  When I jumped out of the car and met these two, there was no awkwardness.  It felt easy.  It’s sometimes hard for that to happen naturally when you have strangers coming together for the first time…but I got all the good feels before we even started taking photos.  Heck, we were striking up conversations before I even got into the nitty gritty of the Hannah Barlow Photography engagement sessions (you know…when I give them all the crazy rules I’ve come up with over the years)!  I LOVE when that happens though! YAY! You just wait and see though!  You’re really going to understand here in a minute!  I mean…it didn’t matter if he was looking at the camera or if she was looking at the camera…easy peasy!  I just kept clicking away!

So, Kristen originally told me she wanted snow for this session.  Then she told me she wanted pine trees.  Once we got to Oglebay, she mentioned wanting to do the stone and iron gates.  Well, we got to do everything but the snow!!  It was almost 60 degrees this night so there was no snow to be found, of course.  So, we’re just going to cross all our crossables (as my friend Kat says) and hope for a snowy wedding come November!  We can dream, right?!  I NEVER get sick of some stone and iron gates though!! Throw in an amazingly easy and laid back couple like this…it’s just so much fun!! I think I actually doubled the time on this session.  Whoops!  I sure hope you both didn’t have anywhere to go, Kristen and Adam, because I didn’t realize until I got in the car that I had held you hostage for quite some time! HA!

I mean…look at them!  I just read their couple fun facts survey and I think I pretty much nailed their personalities vs. how they described themselves.  Adam was warm and welcoming when I first met him.  We actually shook hands after I had taken a few photos and it was totally natural to be around him and not once did I have that inner “OoO no.  He hates this” feeling!  NOT ONCE!.  He told me I could tell him to do whatever I needed and he also added some spunk to the session.  I also knew from email correspondence that Kristen was sweet and almost timid to a degree especially when it came to picture time.  She was always saying the nicest things and I often kept thinking, “Do not act like a total crazy right out of the gate, Hannah!”  She took my spunky personality well though and it’s a good thing because I was a squealing machine at this session (hence why I held them hostage).  How could I not be?!  It’d also been a full month since I took ANY photos so I was due!

I also learned while reading their survey that Kristen is a bit anxious maybe about taking photos and was very much concerned her poses may look forced.  Phhhhffffttt.  There is NOTHING forced about these! Doesn’t she look cozy!?  AND…THIS is just a small collection of what is actually in their full photo gallery!  I had to pump the brakes when I was building this blog, I tell ya!

…and then…the sun was perfect!  If these two thought I was nuts at any time, they did not let me know about it.  I mean…so much could have gone wrong at this session and I kind of warned them just in case.  I recently had every single piece of my gear sent off to Canon for a much needed general maintenance tune up.  Well, the friendly tech guys reset my cameras to factory default settings which is cool…except I set those babies up 2+ years ago and haven’t looked back.  It was very possible they wouldn’t function like I was used to despite my best efforts to move everything back where it should be…HA! It was fine though.  And I also kept checking on the sun.  They just rolled with it.  AND FINALLY…I turned around and knew it was go time!  Beautiful…warm…sun…and lots and lots of love!  If these two weren’t comfortable before, they got really comfortable now!  You wouldn’t have even known I was there! So, they danced!  And Adam pulled her real close and honest to goodness…I felt like someone was playing music I couldn’t hear! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  It was romantic!  I can’t even imagine their wedding!

I mean really…it’s not like me to post or allow photos where one person is covering up the other…but look…JUST LOOK (below).  They were genuinely dancing and snuggling and turning…I wasn’t about to stop that and this photo is definitely one of my favorites! AND…while I’m getting all ooey gooey over here, let me just tell you how he proposed, ok?! Apparently, Kristen had been asking for photos with their fur babies…cats! HA! I’m laughing…because Adam actually put this all together and agreed to this…after some time.  So, off they went to Oglebay to get family pictures with their cats!  I’m a cat person and can just picture this all happening!  It was at one point Kristen was smiling at the camera and Adam was missing and boom…down on one knee he went…behind her…AHHH!!! She said he nailed it and I’m so bummed I haven’t seen all this goodness!! Share the wealth, you two!! I love this kind of stuff!  I bet after she said “YES!”…it looked something like this…

OOOO man…OOo man…I could just keep getting ridiculously mushy but I’ll spare you because I’m positive their blog is going to be so much worse! So, next we did some walking and snuggling! I ALMOST forgot until Kristen mentioned some walking! Can you imagine…me forgetting?! It was that good!

…and because I’m always looking to switch it up, I had them look right at me for one last grand finale photo and this may be my second favorite!  I don’t know why…but I just felt so good at this point even though it was all ending!  I get these vibes and feelings…their wedding is going to be absolutely outstanding!  I KNOW IT! AHHH!

These two are tying the knot THIS November in Wheeling, WV.  Of course, I’m the lucky gal who gets to photograph this baby with my second assistant extraordinaire, Lacey, by my side!  I hear rumor their colors are burgundies and grays! WOOOOO!! I don’t think we’ve done that combo before and I can’t even begin to tell you how stinking excited I am about this! YAY!  New things…big things!  I had this bright idea I wasn’t going to book any weddings after mid November this year…and then Kristen emailed me.  I got all the great vibes and didn’t bat an eyelash at booking this one.  Now, look at this goodness I have on my hard drive and memories…those are the most important!  Meant to be…I always say that!

So, that’s a wrap!! Thanks for reading and Happy Thursday night, everyone!

I couldn’t wait to blog this one…it’s been too long! 🙂