Zara and MacK’s Outdoor Engagement Session

Hello! This couple should be back from their cruise now so it’s time to post their engagement session we photographed before they left! It’s got all the summer greens I LOVE and lots of sweet joy. This couple was a dream to photograph and the highlights of their session are live here on the blog right now! Please give Zara and MacK all your Hannah Barlow Photography love! It’s their time to shine!

We had a phone call meeting prior to this session to sort out all the details. They weren’t exactly sure when they’d like to do it but Zara was pretty sure she wanted to get it done sooner rather than later. I looked at my calendar and we fast tracked this session to make it happen AND right before they went on their own vacation. The calendars lined up beautifully…I was just back from vacation…they were going on vacation…and we had a few days in between…and one day worked for all of us! So, here we are! They wanted a very “outdoor” session so she scoured my previous sessions and posts and sent me some inspo and we landed here!

These two are kind and gentle souls…I could tell both on the phone and I could tell after meeting them here in person! They tell me they love the outdoors and it was evident in the many…OOooO so many…watch tan lines I removed from these photos in post production! They spend a lot of time outside and I love that (as a fellow outdoorsy girl myself)! I’m happy to do the extra Photoshop work…because…SAME! My watch tan line is crazy in contrast from light to dark!

See what I mean?! They’re SO sweet! Such a simple photo but so much joy and love!

Then, we hiked down to the waterfall. Zara hiked IN THOSE SHOES. I kid you not! She had brought others but she didn’t need them. I was so impressed. I would have rolled an ankle…for real!

And there was something special about going down here because she shared a waterfall photo from the past! I didn’t know this photo existed when I first chose this location!

Back to the program! There’s just something so angelic (is that a good word?) for these photos.

I always ask my couples if there’s a specific pose they want to do. She said she saw this one on my page and wasn’t sure about it…well, no worries here. They nailed it!

The black and whites had a romantic and sweet vibe, as well! But I like color…so I’m just throwing one in here (all couples get both color and black and white versions).

Year after year, I just laugh because the universe is a crazy place and things tend to always come full circle and are meant to be (just like me choosing the waterfall location BEFORE they showed me a photo of them…at a waterfall). When we were down in the waterfall, there was a camp with children above the water fall. While we were finishing up, they hiked down to our little location and someone asked if we were taking engagement photos and then suggested we try the butterfly garden. Now, I thought this was a PERFECT idea….I always do…but over the years the “weeds” have scared my couples and they can’t see the vision and always decline on that location. So, I didn’t bring it up with these two…BUT THE HIKERS DID. Zara and MacK were totally on board so off we went.

…and it was magical. It was beautiful. It was GORGEOUS and all meant to be!

I mean…when I think of outdoor wonderful-ness…I think of THIS! This is a fairytale. I get it…it’s “weeds” essentially BUT doesn’t it just have a beautiful vibe?! Add in these two beautiful humans who also thought it was pretty and not just “ugly weeds” and we had a winner of a location! Honestly, these are some of my favorites I’ve taken in a long time!

…and because they did SO good the first time…we did this pose again to end this session!

These two are planning a summer wedding next year in about 11 months! It’ll be blue with some accents of yellow and orange! After photographing these two, I have NO DOUBT it will be STUNNING!