Every couples session starts the same way for me: a conversation. Not about camera settings or shot lists, but about the couple themselves. How did they meet? What do they love doing together? What makes them laugh?
With Ryan and Emily, I learned that they'd gotten engaged at the same park where they had their first date. That detail told me everything I needed to know about where we should shoot and what kind of moments to look for.
We spent about two hours together that evening, moving through different areas of the park as the light shifted from golden to the soft blue of dusk. I gave them simple prompts like "walk toward me and tell each other something you're looking forward to," rather than specific poses. The results were images that felt like snapshots of their actual relationship rather than staged tableaux.
The gallery I delivered a week later had over 300 images. Ryan told me Emily cried when she first opened it. That's exactly what I'm going for.