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!

Featured Location | Cave Point County Park | Door County, Wisconsin

I had an idea to start to feature cool places and venues that I would like to photograph people at, so I thought now is the time to start! The first place I wanted to talk about is a few hours away from Madison, but totally worth the drive! Door County is famous for it's fish boils and fresh cherries, but lets not forget about the gorgeous landscapes in that part of the state. I had the opportunity to take a weekend off and go up there this last May and found some gorgeous locations for portrait sessions!

My favorite place was hiking at Cave Point County Park. This beautiful park is full of a unique rocky shoreline that provides ample opportunities for hiking and even a little climbing! I am always up for an adventure with my couples and love having to hike or climb places to get those epic views! So, if you're getting married in Door County, or just want to take a little road trip for an extra special location, you should definitely put this on your list!

Travel Diaries | Lagos, Sintra, Lisbon | Portugal

Last year I got to explore some pretty gorgeous places around the United States with my wonderful friend, April, and while sitting in a coffee shop this past winter we started to dream of more places to explore and visit! Since we did so much traveling within the country, we figured it was about time to grab our passports and explore somewhere new. After an overwhelming amount of ideas, we finally decided to spend our time exploring Portugal!!

With only a week, we had to try and narrow down our list of places we wanted to see so we decided to focus on southern and central Portugal. After flying in to Lisbon, we got our adorable and tiny rental car (Chip, because what else would you name a tiny mint green Fiat) and headed south to the coast! Our first couple days were spent leisurely wandering around Lagos and Luz! These charming coastal towns were so laid back and easy to explore.

Then after a quick trip out to Sagres to see the Fortaleza de Sagres and Cabo de Sao Vicente, we loaded up Chip and headed back up north to central Portugal and my favorite of our trip, Sintra!!

I thought driving around on the super narrow roads was fun in southern Portugal, but in Sintra and neighboring towns like Cascais took that to a whole new level! You'll see below how the houses open up right to the one lane cobblestone streets and having them built on giant hills just added a little extra challenge to driving and parking :)

After exploring the coast, palaces, and oodles of character and charm of Sintra we headed to our last city, Lisbon!! Being in the bigger city was a fun change of pace for our last couple of days and the hills of Lisbon gave us plenty of a workout as we walked around the different neighborhoods.

If you get the chance I would highly recommend taking a trip to Portugal!! As you can see, the bright colorful buildings with the never ending variety of tiles, patterns, colors, character, and charm are so fun to wander around. And having beautiful beaches and relaxing breezes through the palm trees doesn't hurt either ;) I really thought that Portugal was the perfect combination of a tropical vacation and old European charm and character. While there are SO many places I want to see yet, I hope to get back to Portugal again someday!

Pisgah National Forest Elopement | Asheville, North Carolina

Last week I took a little trip to visit my dear friend Lisa in North Carolina! Lisa and I met in photography school (check her out on Instagram) and we've been lucky enough to visit each other around the country. Recently Lisa and her family decided to set down some roots in Asheville, North Carolina and I can see why! Although it was still brown and winter while I was there, the rolling green mountains, hip vibe, and friendly people make it an ideal place to live.

Lisa was also kind enough to set up a little styled shoot for me while I was visiting! She found a super sweet couple, wardrobe, and drove me around to find a great location (although the Blue Ridge Parkway being closed most of the time didn't help). Our adorable couple, Allie and Tim, never had professional wedding photos so it was super fun to recreate some wedding day feelings and portraits for them!

Mountain Maternity Session in a Winter Wonderland | Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

We finally got a little snow today in Madison, so that inspired me to get caught up with the little portrait session I got to do up in the mountains in Utah last week! I'm one of those crazy people that actually love the snow in winter and thinks it just makes everything beautiful. I'd much rather look at snow than brown grass and trees!

Luckily, while I was in Utah in last week I got to spend some time with Annie and Charles who are expecting their first little one! This adorable couple braved the cold for a little bit and had some fun out in the snow. So glad I got to get to know these soon-to-be parents :)