Patty + Jayson | Exploring the Northwoods Engagement Session | Copper Falls State Park, WI

One of my favorite things to do is to hike and explore for portrait sessions! When Patty and Jayson asked if I would be willing to have a little adventure I immediately said, "of course!!" Our initial plan was to actually hike out to the ice caves at the Apostle Islands, but unfortunately the weather just did not cooperate and give us an opportunity to do that, but luckily there are still so many gorgeous places to wander and explore! We met at Copper Falls State Park, where I had actually never been, and hiked a couple trails to some really beautiful locations :)

And to make things even better, these two fabulous people brought their adorable pup, Aurora, who really loved the hikes as well. Who doesn't love a dog that looks like a sweet little fox?! Patty and Jayson had actually hiked this park in the summer so it was really neat for them to get to see what it looks like in the winter as well! I could go on and on, but give me a super sweet and adorable couple AND an adventure portrait session and I will pretty much be the happiest photographer, ever!

Travel Bucket List | Destination Wedding and Portrait Photographer

People often ask what I do after wedding season is over, and while I wish I could say just sleep and travel, this is my time of year to not only take a break but to catch up on all of the tasks of running a business that get put off during the craziness of wedding season! Yes, I will be taking lots of MUCH needed time off, but one of the main things I'll be doing is gearing up and making changes for 2017.

Each year I try to make changes and take steps forward to having a photography business that not only serves my clients and gives them the best experience and images possible, but also feeds my passion, soul, and drive! One of the main things that does that is travel!! So, I've decided to just put it out in the universe that these are some of the places that I would LOVE to photograph people in. AND a special little deal for you, if you book a wedding, elopement, or portrait session in one of these places I will shoot it for free. FREE! 

I am not trying to discount professional photographers and what we do, this is just a personal goal of mine and my desire to photograph people in these gorgeous places is worth is to me to not make any money doing it. I still believe it is VERY important to value the hard work that professional photographers do and to pay for quality work, however I'm also a person that values experiences and I would love to capture epic portraits in these locations. Now, there is one tiny little catch, you would still need to pay for travel costs for me and my second shooter (airfare, accommodation the night before and night of your event/session, and transportation from airport) but that is it. 

I want to photograph adventurous and awesome people in gorgeous and epic locations. This is me officially saying it to the universe :) Where are these places that I will shoot for only travel costs? New Zealand, Iceland, Italy, France, Thailand, Australia, Spain, Brazil, and South Africa. Have a location that's not listed? Just shoot me an email and tell me more!

Amanda + Robbie | Colorado Engagement Session | Rocky Mountain National Park

If you know one thing about me it should be that I love to travel! So when I got the opportunity to go out to Colorado for Amanda and Robbie's engagement session I of course said, heck yeah!! I already knew this would be a gorgeous session because of where we would be, but what just makes it over the top and even better is Amanda and Robbie. They are just the kind of people you want to hang out and be friends with. Lucky for me, they are also madly in love and crazy adorable so it was just the easiest thing ever to photograph these two.

I also love that my couples trust me even when I come up with crazy ideas or something that may push them out of their comfort zone. We had initially planned to just go to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, but I had the opportunity to explore the park the day before so obviously I found about 10,002 locations I wanted to use :) These two were so awesome to go the extra mile (ha, literally) up in the mountains to just the most stunning views. It was ridiculously windy and it was cold, but the bigger the wind gusts the more Amanda would laugh! I can only hope to get to meet and work with more people like Amanda and Robbie, and to photograph in unbelievably gorgeous locations!