I’ll never forget the moment I got the email from Hanna requesting their White Pines State Park Engagement Session.

See, it was October 13. But not just any October 13, it happened to be a Friday the 13th. I was second shooting for a good friend at a suitably macabre themed wedding at The Illinois Bank and Trust Pavilion in Rockford and during our dinner break during the reception I checked my phone. The subject line of the email just said “Engagement Session.” It had only been a few weeks since Hanna and Zack’s engagement session and I thought to myself, “This is it. She hates the pictures and this email is going to crush me.”

I could not have been more wrong. Hanna and Zack (well at the very least Hanna) had so enjoyed their engagement session that she wanted to do it AGAIN, and this time she wanted to get some of that fall foliage so she had a variety of images for their wedding guest book! (Which is a product that I offer for sale through the client gallery. I’ll do a blog post about that too.)

We quickly planned their second engagement session to happen at White Pines in the heart of October, and we got an absolutely GLORIOUS day. I think this might be one of my favorite sessions that I have ever done, and I think it really highlights how having an engagement session can really help you prepare to take excellent portraits on your wedding day. Because we had just recently done a session, they were FLYING through this second session, and I got to try a few more creative things, and even in the short amount of time we had, we made it ALL OVER the park. This gallery was enormous, and I had a really hard time cutting it down for this blog post.

If you’ve never been to White Pines State Park, its worth a visit, even if I’m not photographing you there. Where Pine Creek carved its way through the sandstone of Illinois and has created the most beautiful vine covered cliffs, topped by towering natural white pine trees.

I grew up in Mt. Morris, and going to “The Pines” was such a regular thing that I never fully appreciated how beautiful the park really is. I love doing sessions there any time of year. I also really love trying to find new backgrounds and viewpoints in a park that I know so well. But I can’t ignore the classics, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop taking clients to the first wooden foot bridge and the beautiful rock outcropping next to it.

My favorite part of the park as a child was driving through the cement fords. There used to be 3, but long ago the innermost one was closed, so now there are only two. The closed ford is one of my favorite places for wading in the summer, especially after a photo session. I like to invite clients to come with me at the end of their session, and take a few quick pics in the clear, cool water. (Unfortunately, it was too cold to do that with Hanna and Zack during their late fall session.)

Hanna chose such amazing outfits for this session that compliment the surroundings so well. The only thing we struggled with was her freaking amazing platform boots. They looked amazing, but crossing Pine Creek was a bit challenging, and I asked her to cross it quite a few times during this session, which she probably wasn’t thrilled with at the time, but those are some of my favorite shots that I’ve ever taken, so I think it was worth it. I hope Hanna agrees. (Zack holding her hand as she moves from one stone to another was not just posing. It was 100% necessary so Hanna didn’t fall in!)