Lindsay and Bob - Senior and Practice Engagement Photos

Shortly after doing a photo shoot in October of 2009, I received a message on Facebook. It read something like "I got your name from some friends and wanted to know if you could photograph my wedding in July 2011?". After explaining that I'd never shot a wedding before, the response was "I don't really mind that you haven't done a wedding before... I feel it's one of those "pay it forward" things. If I don't take a chance on someone, who knows if or when someone will."

I want to thank Lindsay for taking a chance on me. It's been over a year since that first message and we have developed quite a relationship. Although we've only met twice (once to discuss the wedding and once for this photo shoot), I feel like we've known each other a lot longer. That level of comfort helped to make this shoot a whole lot of fun and a lot easier, since I was just meeting Lindsay's fiancée, Bob, for the first time.

Lindsay and Bob are high school sweethearts. I got to hear some great stories about sledding, bears and broken noses (all different stories, if you can believe it), as well as getting to see how perfect they are for each other. Although we're planning an official engagement shoot sometime in early 2011, we thought we'd get in a little practice while we had the chance, so after a relaxing lunch we headed out to CSU's campus for some photos.

When two people have known each other for quite a while, it's kind of magical. Their hands and their bodies know how they best fit together. Their conversations calm and relax each other. Their subtle glances between shots bring true smiles and a twinkle to the eye. Just don't ask them to gaze at each other.

Apparently, Lindsay and Bob don't spend much time "gazing" at each other, because when I asked them to gaze into each others eyes, it lasted a whole 2 seconds before they started cracking up with laughter! I told them to practice their gazing before their engagement session, but when I talked to Lindsay the next week and jokingly asked her how their gazing practice was going, she said they tried it in a restaurant and caused a scene. Maybe we'll nix the gazing photos.

Lindsay will be graduating from CSU this December, at which point I'm pretty sure she will be diving into wedding planning mode until July. While she's still a college student, though, we wanted to get some photos of her on campus. Bob took off and left us to capture Lindsay the College Student. We strolled around campus, ducking into buildings to get warm and snapping photos between snow flurries. When the weather really started to take a turn for the worse, we decided to call it a day.

After spending an afternoon with Lindsay and Bob, I can honestly say that I can't wait for their engagement photo session. Even more, I can't wait for their wedding day! What started as a quick message on Facebook has turned into a wonderful relationship. Lindsay and Bob, I'm so happy for you and am looking forward to many more lunches, conversations and photo shoots with the two of you!