Eric and Steph Engagement Photos – Western Style!

Steph, the Bride to Be

The first day I met my neighbor Eric’s girlfriend, Steph, I thought to myself, “She is the one – he is going to marry that girl!” I’m not sure how I knew… something about the way they both lit up around each other. I was thrilled when they recently got engaged and I am honored that they asked me to be their wedding and engagement photographer!

Eric and Steph’s wedding is being held at Peaceful Valley Ranch in Lyons, Colorado. The location is famous for western style weddings, so Eric and Steph decided to set the western tone right from the start with their engagement photos. We are talking cowboy boots, cowboy hats, a western style shirt for Eric, bandanas, and best of all, Eric’s toy cap gun! Oh, just wait, you’ll see…

The first pose, below, was simply intended to get both Eric and Steph to relax and have a good time. I suggested that Steph hold up Eric’s foot so we could see that he is, indeed, wearing cowboy boots.

Eric & Steph Getting Warmed Up for Engagement Photos!

I love the second shot, when I had posed the couple close together and Eric asked, “What should I do with my hands?” I joked, “Whatever you feel like doing!” The resulting photo is this, which will make both them and me smile forever! Guys will be guys… 😉

Eric and Steph Snuggling Pose

Now came the time to ensure all their family and friends know this wedding is going to have a western theme, so it was on with the cowboy hats! Silly, fun cowboy hats, which really helped the couple lighten up and start to truly enjoy the photo session!

Eric and Steph Cowboy Hats Engagement Photo

Eric took his hat off for a breather, which gave me the chance to catch this next pose, which I really love!

Eric and Steph With Eric’s Cowyboy Hat Off

I also decided to create a square cropped version of that pose, to focus more attention on the couple’s faces.

Eric and Steph With Eric’s Cowyboy Hat Off – Square Crop

Eric and Steph will be getting married on September 15, 2013. The couple had a fun idea that they’d like one of their engagement photos to have the date of their upcoming wedding written in chalk on the bottoms of their cowboy boots. I loved the idea too. While Eric was digging his chalk out of his backpack, I caught the solo pose of Steph which was shown at the beginning of this story. I love how gorgeous it turned out!

Once Eric had his chalk out, we posed Steph with her feet crossed and Eric wrote “Sept.” on one boot and “15th” on the other. Then he sat down, crossed his feet, and I finished the job by writing “20” on one boot and “13” on the other. The resulting pose has their complete wedding date “in your face” and I love how cute this turned out!

Eric and Steph Engagement Photo With Wedding Date on Boot Bottoms

This is about the time I said, “Okay, do you have any other special poses you want to do?” and much to my surprise, Eric whipped out a toy cap gun! We joked around that he was going to hold Steph at gunpoint to make her marry him, although if you know them, you know he doesn’t need a gun to convince her. But the whole scene was so priceless that I actually photographed it and her reaction!

Eric Forcing Steph to Accept His Proposal at Gunpoint!

Needless to say, by this point, I was laughing so hard it was difficult to continue, but fair is fair, so I insisted that Steph also get a chance to hold Eric at gunpoint too!

Steph Holding Eric at Gunpoint – No Backing Out Now Mister!

The look on Eric’s face in that one is priceless – reminds me of that old Talking Heads song where David Byrne sings, “My God, What Have I Done?!?!?” But don’t let that face fool you. Eric is thrilled about this upcoming wedding and really is quite the romantic. In fact, the rest of our poses were all very romantic shots which he came up with.

Eric made a point that he wanted some of their engagement portraits to be taken under a pair of giant cottonwood trees which he calls, “The Kissing Trees” because the tops of their branches, indeed, seem to be kissing. It was a huge challenge to capture the trees along with the couple in the photo, but Eric wanted at least one shot showing the vastness of the trees with them standing together underneath. This is that pose:

Eric and Steph Engagement Photo Under the Kissing Trees

For a more intimate pose, I asked Steph to move in closer to Eric….

Eric and Steph Engagement Photo Under the Kissing Trees

Now the real romance… Eric and Steph kissing under the Kissing Trees!

Eric and Steph Engagement Kiss Under the Kissing Trees

We were just about to wrap up our photo shoot when Eric spotted this winding sidewalk and got the idea for the next pose. He wanted a photo which signified Steph and him walking, hand-in-hand, down the winding path of life. Here is that photo:

Eric and Steph Hand-in-Hand Down the Winding Path of Life

This nearly completed our engagement portrait session but not quite. Last, but not least, we took a family portrait of Eric and Steph with their dog, Baker, who also got in on the western theme wearing Steph’s red bandana. Perfect!

Eric, Baker, and Steph Family Engagement Portrait

I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun on a portrait session shoot before and I thank Eric and Step for being so entertaining and fun to work with. I think we all learned that portraits really can be super fun and they gained confidence in their choice to hire me as their wedding photographer. I can’t wait for their wedding photos on September 15, 2013. Stay tuned – there are bound to be plenty of antics along with plenty of romance!

By Janine Fugere

As Seen by Janine: Eyes of the World Images