Smith Rock Engagement Photography: Ansley and Tyler

A windy day with a beautiful couple at Smith Rock State Park

I only got to meet Ansley and Tyler twice: once for their Smith Rock engagement portrait photography session and once for their Aspen Hall wedding photography session. They impressed on me their love each other and what amazing, smart, nice people they are both times I got to meet them. They are surrounded with great families and super fun friends. If only we could all be so lucky in our lives.

The weather was sort of good, but definitely windy at Smith Rock the first time we met. The umbrella I use on my Profoto light doesn't do well in the wind, so I usually will go with a smaller octabox or my beauty dish along with about thirty pounds of sandbags on the light base. The sand, the stand, the light, the light modifiers all don't do well on long hikes, but luckily for me, there's awesome places to get super portraits right next to the south parking lot. Yay!

Also lucky for me Ansley and Tyler are super easy to work with: patient, not rushed, willing to pose, creative to pose their way without me trying to tell them what their way might be. How could anything go wrong with this great combination? It didn't. The rangers even left us alone. It was a great session.

When I do engagement photography sessions I print ten pictures for them to buy and include the digital images for them to share online and put into a book for the wedding. Many couples make a book of them together to share at the welcome table at their wedding and these make a great addition. Plus sometimes they have a picture from the engagement photography session framed and on the table. But most people don't need more than ten.

Here's the ten for Ansley and Tyler.