Our fun, outdoorsy engagement session!

A couple of weekends ago Derek and I finally got to "sit" for our engagement session with the lovely and talented Kelly Cameron! I think most people have probably noticed that the days of posed portraits in front of a cloudy blue background in a studio are a thing of the past. Today's hottest photographers are taking a more artistic, storytelling approach when it comes to engagement photos. I worked with Kelly via email for a few weeks to come up with an original and personal plan for our session and I must say, I am pretty dang proud of us!

Earlier in the afternoon, I stopped in to visit Lauren of Hint of Shimmer to get my face camera ready. Lauren will be doing my makeup and my bridesmaids' for the wedding and I am so thrilled to be working with her! She is talented, super cool and oh-so-sweet. She did a beautiful job on my makeup and my sister Jeanine and I had a lovely time chatting with her throughout my appointment. I was also lucky enough to have her do my makeup a few weeks earlier when I modeled for Nettie's Cloth & Ink at an Austin Fashion Week event! It was so much fun!

Here's a good close-up of my makeup. Lauren did a wonderful job!

We then made the trek out to Kingsland, Texas to "The Slab," a really cool spot on the Llano River near Derek's grandparents' house. Derek pretty much grew up at this spot. Some of his favorite memories are from when he would swim, fish and play there as a boy.

I know that an engagement session is not exactly a guy's first choice of activity for a Friday night so I really wanted to incorporate some of the things he loves to make it as enjoyable as possible for both of us. I started out with a fly fishing theme and incorporated some good old Lone Star beer. We also brought along our sweet little Dachshund, Prince. Derek has been teaching me to fly fish for a few months now and I have to admit, it is really fun!

                          

Prince likes it too, but he prefers to watch from a drier spot.

I even planned out our outfits on Polyvore!

We were also able to get my ring reset just in time for the photos! I designed it based on a setting I found online but the pink sapphire side stones were my own personal touch. My cousin Rick took it to his friend in Dallas and he was able to bring my vision to life.

For our second scene we used the 1993 F-150 that we drove half way across the country when we moved from San Diego to San Antonio. Derek's dad has it now and he let us borrow it for the shoot! I just love the great green color and vintage-y look of it.

I tried my hand at a little styling with a quilt I found at Wal Mart and coordinating throw pillows from Ross (and one made specially for me and Derek by my cousin Lauren) to create a fun and cute tailgating scene.

Kelly also made me a beautiful country bouquet out of sunflowers, alstroemeria and wildflowers she picked on location.

The road that runs through the slab is really cool-looking so I definitely wanted to make sure we took some photos of us standing in the middle of it. I knew this would be tough though, since it is a main road with a 60 mph speed limit. Miraculously, we were able to get all of the shots we wanted before a single car drove through! This one is definitely one of our favorites.

I think this engagement session definitely captured our relationship beautifully. Derek loves the outdoors and has really made me learn to appreciate nature since we started dating two years ago. My mom also pointed out that the road scene was fitting for us considering all of the miles we've travelled together. I am so excited for the thousands of miles that are to come as we start our journey in marriage in just six months!

I also need to give a big thanks to my sister, Jeanine for tagging along and being such a great dog wrangler. Prince just loves his Aunt Jeanine. 

And an extra big thanks to Kelly for getting these done incredibly quickly so I was able to send out our save-the-dates on time!

To see some more check out Kelly's blog post about our shoot!

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- Kelly is the greatest! Her work is amazing and she is a truly wonderful, fun and friendly person. Since I met her in November it has been such a joy getting to know her. I always look forward to seeing her and I am so excited to shoot with her again when we do my bridal portraits in a couple of months! Best of all, my mom will be in town for that!