The hills are alive... with Kristen & Ryan's engagement session!

If you know me personally, you likely already know that Ryan is my *baby* brother and Kristen is his fiancee BUT also my bestest of friends. I have been literally waiting for the day to take their engagement photos and it finally came a few weeks ago. Ryan and I were originally trying to plan a secret engagement photo shoot (last fall), however it worked out that instead he got to propose while they were on little romantic getaway.

I first met Kristen at my other brother, Justin's, wedding a few years back. She and Ry were dating at the time, but (supposedly) hadn't made it official yet. Ryan introduced her as his girlfriend to the entire family without her prior knowledge, so I guess that's one way to do it! I immediately took her in as "my own" and pretty much forced her to be my friend ever since.

When we were planning their engagement session, we wanted to go somewhere different that I don't normally do, but we weren't quite sure. After talking and narrowing down the options, we decided it NEEDED to happen in a field of purple flowers (purple is Kristen's favorite color). But... where on earth do we find a field of purple flowers? Thank the heavens for Google because we ended up finding the perfect location, albeit it 2 hours away. Not only did we find a beautiful field of purple flowers, it was also in the mountains and we happened to unintentionally schedule the session for the exact weekend the lupines would be in full bloom.

The first outfit is actually mine, obviously pinned in the back since Kristen's waist is about the size of my arm ;) Skirt and top both from Morning Lavender.

It was pure coincidence that the sun was in full view when we used the yellow skirt. Once she changed into her own outfit, the clouds came in and we got some beautiful, even lighting! My brother always says how much he hates clouds (he actually wanted me to photoshop a blue sky into some of these photos...) but he was thankful once it was no longer blinding him during his engagement session.

I apologize for the photo overload, but I couldn't pick and choose so I'm literally sharing ALL. OF. THEM.

We saw this "decorative" ski lift and I had to get a few shots before we left. This was right at the end and they turned out to be some of my favorite images from the session! I feel like that always happens...

Needless to say, I cannot wait for the wedding! I won't be photographing it because I'll be too busy enjoying the moments, but they hired an AMAZING photographer who will do an even better job than I ever could!

Kristen and Ryan | June 13, 2020