Fall colors were in full swing for Afton and Dave’s engagement session at Cabell’s Mill. If the location seems familiar, that’s because I was just here for the first time a few weeks ago for Isabel and Ian’s wedding. So when Afton and Dave told me they were interested in doing their engagement session somewhere with fall colors and maybe stone structures, I knew this could be the perfect location for them.

I was thrilled to see all the changing leaves and soft golden light at the start of our session. We did realize a bit into the session that we were losing light faster than expected because of the tall trees surrounding the property, but Afton and Dave were troopers, shooting through dusk and into the night. I don’t often hold sessions this late in the evening and it was surprisingly fun to work with a different lighting situation than I usually do, getting rich shadows and deep colors that emphasized the gorgeous colors of fall.

Before the session, Afton confessed that they weren’t exactly comfortable in front of the camera or being particularly affectionate in public during the session. Where some of my clients feel totally natural in front of the camera, I know others don’t – and that’s okay! We had fun wandering the property, using less touchy-feely photo ops like sitting side by side or walking together through the field. That said, shooting with me means you can’t get away without a romantic kiss or bit of extra snuggle and Afton and Dave did a great job of just laughing through any discomfort and you wouldn’t know it from the final set of images!

At the end of the session, in the nearly pitch black of night, we ended the session with a few sparklers they had brought along, just to play around and see if we could get something fun! We got some snapshots that add a little unique flair to the session overall – yet another moment that pushed me out of my comfort zone for an engagement session and ended up adding to an overall really cool fall session.

I can’t wait until their big day in February!