So…I’m pretty sure I’ve said it a time, or twenty–but, being a photographer is pretty cool.  Sure, like any job, there are favorite parts, and not-so-favorite parts of course; but, when you get to do your favorite part, it makes all the rest pretty okay.  This past weekend–all my favorites combined.  A favorite, long-time, friend needed engagement photos.  (AKA: I got to see a good friend and her fiance, visit their new house, take a road trip and get creative–all while making some photos!)

The day, for me, started normal.  I had rented my favorite, FAVORITE, lens from West Photo the day before.  I made sure my batteries were all charged, packed up an extra lens (not that I would ever need it when I had rented my special baby), packed my suitcase with frames, chalk, paper, and a few other things (just in case), and stocked my car with my road trip necessities–you know, coffee, a pink Rockstar, spice drops, aviator glasses, a map, and my favorite eos lip balm.  (Currently, it’s the coconut milk one.)  I also packed up my oldest kid with her boots, snow pants, gloves, warm clothes, cash and her iPod, so I could drop her off, along the way, at a friends to go snow tubing.

Once I got on the road, I figured that since I’d be in the car for about an hour and a half, I’d just stop along the way to get myself lunch.  I had my GPS on and, within about 20 minutes, was on the back roads and OUT of the city.  (There’s a cut off at Maple Grove.  Once you get west of there–there’s nothing but a buncha little map dots and adorable towns.)  The drive was an odd one–in the nearly 60 miles I drove, I wasn’t on any one, single, road for more than 20 miles.  Some roads I was only on for 1 mile, others 4–no road had a speed limit of over 60.  I never did find a place to grab lunch at–which was fine, I had spice drops.  (Well, there were plenty of places for lunch–just none with a drive though and this girl had a date to make.)  About ten minutes away from my destination I found a Dairy Queen–so, that’s where I stopped on the way home.

Once I got there, my friend showed me around and I picked her brain on what her and her fiance like to do for fun–darts, board games, cards and movies came in high on her list, so I decided that we needed to feature a few of those things; and, since their house is new, I also really wanted to play that up. (Plus, they got engaged there, and will be having their wedding there–it was a MUST to show off a bit!)  After working through their home, shooting with cards at the bar, at the kitchen table with Scrabble pieces and in the living room next to their favorite couch, we went outside.  They showed me where they’re going to hold their ceremony, and then the reception, and then they told me the story of how Brian proposed (on the frozen lake, in the middle of a giant heart in the snow, that he created by foot.  A little part of me completely melted with that story. 🙂 ).

Anyway, take a look at a bit of what we came up with.  These are some of my favorite photos from the day. I know they will stand the test of time–just like those two. 🙂