So there we were…

A lot has happened since I first saw you at the dining facility during our first deployment over four years ago (While making fun of me for eating rice with toothpicks, thanks =P). We went from focused sergeants wanting to retire as ornery old soldiers to an “us” planning a family and dreaming of mysteriously losing toddlers in a snowbank (I TOLD you it was deeper than you thought! =P). Things changed so suddenly since we met. Granted, it did take three years for you to talk to me, and it went horribly wrong, and I felt incredibly stupid, and I made you feel stupid, but baby steps, yeah?

I’ve been trying to make up those cool points ever since (You have to admit, my clumsy attempt at the damsel-in-distress bit eventually achieved the desired outcome. I never claimed to be an actress), but I’m starting to think that is just the effect you have on me.

Even if I tried, I couldn’t imagine not having you in my life. And, even then, just being around you isn’t enough; I always want you by my side. Always. When I’m out shopping for socks, I want you there to make sure they have enough cushioning. Yeah, that serious. You got me good, Sergeant.

That being said, I am formally handing over that 2062. Please print, sign, and date in column “A”. But like everything in the Army, you will have to “hurry up and wait” a bit for your government issue Baby Koh. It’ll come soon enough though and then we can fix that “not-being-with-you” stuff. I promise, today and every day after, I will love the hell out of you (Sorry, had to tone it down, but it’s the same level of affection, I swear).

Always,

your Baby Koh

Jessica + Dwayne,

Flat out, you two make a great team.  It was obvious from the first moments we both met you and how many laughs and smiles were tossed around in such a short period of time!  Thank you for planning your vacation to Bend, Oregon around us and your engagement session – what a treat!  For our blog readers out there, Jessica + Dwayne both serve in the Army, stationed at different bases, have both been deployed several times to Iraq and have both never spent too much time in the snow (like second time ever).  We had the pleasure of shooting with them around Seventh Mountain Resort and the bridge at Tetherow.  Fearless as they both are, they went ice skating and snowboarding on their trip and even jumped on a sleigh (okay, that was just for us but you get our drift!).

All the best,

B + W

One of our favs from the first part of the session – smiles all around!

Jessica, you are STUNNING!  Love the light and each of your expressions here.

Jessica has a beautiful ambigram on her arm that says “Faith” and when you turn it over “Hope.”

The Seventh Mtn. Resort had beautiful decorations up!

We didn’t last long (it was 20 degrees!) but we snuck over to Tetherow to snap a few at sunset!

Back at Seventh Mountain Resort, we played around on the sleigh…the reindeer were on a break now that the holidays were over

Intimate, simple, beautiful….

Trying to warm up by the outside fire…it produced a beautiful glow!

Jessica, you’re beautiful!  (I’m sure Dwayne says that all the time!)

We often capture the attention of out-of-town brides and regularly travel to their location to shoot among urban settings (in fact it’s a secret craving of ours).  Many thanks to our super-fab couples, some of these are for weddings next year but we have thoroughly enjoyed the process of getting to know you.  Moreover, some of our brides and grooms have taken the extra step to write love letters to their spouse (to-be).  When our couples choose to do that, we are overjoyed at the courage and humor that often comes out.

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

B + W

{Jess + Chase} Engagement Session, Central Oregon

{Karen + Greg} Engagement Session; McMenamins, Bend Oregon

{Monica + Todd} Engagement Session; Drake Park, Downtown Bend Oregon

Letter Series: To Joe, From Meredith: Portland Oregon Engagement Photography

Letter Series: To Ian, From Jenni: Portland Oregon Engagement Photography

{Emily + David} Engagement Session; San Francisco, California

Letter Series: To Brian, From Katie: Engagement Photography Bend, Oregon

Letter Series: To Mike, From Tana: Engagement Photography Seattle, WA

Letter Series: To Phillip, From Heather; Central Oregon Pre-Wedding Engagement Photography

Letter Series: To Christoffer, From Mandy: Engagement Photography San Francisco, CA

Letter Series: To Gabe, From Mia: Central Oregon Engagement Photography

{Karen + Damian} Engagement Photography; Malibu, California

Letter Series: To Tamara, From Tim; Pre-Wedding Engagement Photography Bend Oregon

{Amy + Aaron} Engagement Photography; Dillon Falls Bend, Oregon

Letter Series: To Michael; From Tara: Pre-Wedding Engagement Photography; Five Pines Lodge Sisters, OR

{Karin + Fabrizio} Engagement Session; Rome, Italy

I can’t think of the first time I thought “this is the man for me” so it must have been all of the little things that added up to make you the perfect person for me. I mean really what girl wouldn’t fall in love when on our first date you picked me up on a scooter and whizzed me around Rome. Or on our third date when I told you to wear tennis shoes and you showed up with Gucci on your feet. Maybe it is because you will always walk to to get the car and pick me up if it’s raining or I’m wearing heels. When it was boiling hot in Rome you took me to Ireland, and when we needed romance to Paris where you warned me that one of these days you were going to ask me to marry you so I’d better watch out. You wait for me on the ski slopes and watch out for me in the water. Remember following me down the beach to look for turtles? You thought I was crazy but came along anyways.

Maybe I fell in love with you because you make feel feel that whatever is important to me is important to you, my family, my friends, my funny American ways. You help with the Christmas tree and are fearless with your fashion choices in Oregon (one day we’ll learn to wear shiny jackets too). I don’t have words to tell you how much it means to me that you waited to ask me to marry you when we were in Cannon Beach. You never play games and always answer your phone. You’ve never yelled at me even when I’ve deserved it.

I laugh harder with you than anyone I know and you are kind and generous to everyone. Thank you for deciding to spend the rest of your life with me. I will never take it for granted and will try to be for you all that you are to me. So there is no one reason why I love you and no one moment when I decided you were the one for me.  It is something that grew in my heart from the first time I saw you.

Amore mio, per me sei tutto, la stella che mi guida, il sole che mi scalda e la luna che mi fa sognare. (My love, you are everything to me, the star that guides me, the sun that warms me and the moon that makes me dream)

Baci,
Karin

In front of the President’s estate…having a little fun practicing a dip.

Did I mention the textures were amazing?  Rockin’ the sunset.

One of those random Rome narrow streets that everyone loves…

The Coliseum at night with shadows, shadows everywhere….Karin rockin’ it!

Rome has some of the most fantastic textures, colors and history; we had a really hard time not stopping every two seconds to setup a shot.  Karin + Fabrizio were naturals behind the camera (even though they don’t think so!) and considering we had just met them the day before, puttering around Rome was easy and a ton of fun.  We first went to the President of Rome’s estate and shot at sunset in a beautiful, cobbled area where you could see St. Peter’s Basilica in the background.  Then we wanted to go into the narrow streets and capture some of the textures and ‘ristorante’s’ that were secluded.  We ended the evening, after a short break for some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, at the grand Colosseum all lit up at night.

This was just a prelude to their big day just two days later as a way to feel comfortable behind our cameras and get to know their story.  They met through a mutual friend; he’s a banker, she’s a travel guide for Rick Steve’s.  Karin + Fabrizio went above and beyond this entire experience to make sure everyone, including us, were comfortable and happy.  We were treated as family for three days that left us humbled and grateful for this experience and frankly excited to come back!

Thank you, thank you!

B + W

Ya hace mas que un par de años desde que nos conocimos, hicimos amigos y nos enamoramos – tú y yo. Looking back over those years I’ve become convinced that ‘meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control,’ to borrow from an anonymous quote. A decided surrendering to a serendipity of happenstance that both marks and has changed me; forever, and for the better. I wish I could find words to enumerate the cherished dreams, memories, and experiences that loving you has afforded me. And to also convey, palpably, the awesome force these moments represent to who I am, have become, and desire to be. My efforts would, of course, be folly at best: ‘a laborious and impoverishing extravagance,’ for neither words nor text could approach the wonder that simply the thought of you animates within me.

My best effort, perhaps fittingly, would be to compare my love for you to a book, and allow the magistery of Borges’ text to approximate in words what I cannot. For ‘a book is more that a verbal structure or series of verbal structures; it is the dialogue it establishes with its reader and the intonation it imposes upon their voice, and the changing and durable images it leaves in their memory. A book is not an isolated being: it is a relationship, an axis of innumerable relationships.’ In simple terms a book is life. A script that neither fully precedes nor is postscript to our experience in the world; to living, loving, and just being. And ultimately, a book is never solitary. For from the moment of its inception it thought, through the acts of writing and being read, a book is always already a relationship, a gathering of the countless relationships that story life.

What I am trying to say is that to no small extent I am the person I am today by virtue of loving you, and by the grace of having felt your love for many years. This is what my life has become. And I love my life, largely because I am deeply in love with you. I didn’t know things would turn out this way when we met; nor could I have brought my life, nor yours, here by simple design. I just wanted to know you, become your friend, and share time. That’s all I was sure of those years ago; the rest has been like a book that wraps you up and whisks you away to worlds and experiences previously unimagined, if not unimaginable. A life of wonderment: that’s the story I live with in words I love you Tamara. And life with you is ever so much more than words.

Tu amigo, pareja, y enamorado – ahora y para siempre.

Un beso querida.
tim

Tamara + Tim,

You know why we love you guys?  Because you two are adventurous spirits, for shizzle.  Nevermind that the next day after the shoot you were going on a 23-day epic hiking adventure in Yosemite, nevermind that we were swarmed with mosquitoes during the second half of the shoot and you still looked natural, relaxed and at ease in nature, truly, you guys are such a cute pair and are obviously two peas in a pod.

We had so much fun with the old Schwinn bike, chasing the sunset at Mt. Bachelor and swatting bugs (all the while watching you two share ‘little kisses’ – ahhemm, remember ‘no big kisses’!).  We can’t wait for your upcoming wedding and look forward to sharing your special day with such a fun duo.

All the best,

B + W

A little downtown fun in the sun on a tandem Huffy townie bike

Beautiful light for a secret smooch!

One of our favs with Mt. Bachelor in the background.

Here’s another fun, unique play shot!

I did photoshop ONE thing on this pic, there was a massive mosquito on the frame (one of thousands but you wouldn’t know it from their smiles!)

Balance, smooch, surf…balance, smooch – aw, you get the drill!  Super cute in front of Broken Top on the side of the road.

I can’t believe this was the sunset…it looks like a wildfire in the back it’s so brilliant!

Sunflare goodness and Tamara dancing

Yes, that’s the moon in the middle of the rocks.

One of our favs, a cute moment you two!

As a little girl I used to stare up at the moon and wonder if somewhere in the world the boy I was going to marry might be looking at it at the same time. I never dreamed that the answer would be no because it was daytime where he was playing, laughing and growing in to the man I love today.

While I can’t wait to walk down the aisle toward you and share our wedding day with the people we love, I most look forward to sharing a life with you and discovering the man, the husband, and the father that you have yet to grow in to.

Jeg elsker dig,

Din lille skat

Mandy + Christoffer,

Since we hadn’t met face to face, we didn’t know what to expect but we have to say…thank you!  It was awesome to hit the ground running and the flow was easy throughout the shoot; that all elusive ‘click’ was an easy fit with you two.  I’m so glad you were both able to getting in some special smooch time prior to Christoffer’s trip back to Denmark   Sadly, the afternoon fog rolled in but it didn’t stop all the beautiful cityscape of San Francisco, CA to come alive.  Our goal was to shoot some city texture, get some great moments and have a different take on some of the icons of the city.  We can’t wait to meet up again for your wedding!

All the best,

B + W

We started the day at Swensen’s, a special spot for them….pssst, it was their first date

Mandy just had to do this pose!  She does this at every special occasion in her life and promises to do it again in her wedding dress!

I love the way the blue POPs here!  Grawrrr…these two had no problem sharing kisses with the camera.

Love this hidden moment and the color, iron and cracks of the buildings.

One of our favs from the session, the light reflection, red stairs and Mandy a beauty.

Again, one of our favs…sure those looking from the bus were smiling.  ahhhh, love.

Couldn’t help but snap a shot here; Christoffer grabbed the Financial Times and they said this is pretty close to normal for them

A different view from a famous San Francisco icon – Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory

Mandy’s eyes are striking and we couldn’t help but get some close ups…

…and Christoffer’s weren’t far behind!

One of the favs from the day…just love the serenity of this shot

Another famous icon, we happy talked the driver to give us a few minutes.  They had 100 people waiting and watching

People always told me two things: One, you meet the right person when you’re not looking for them.  Two, when you meet the person you are going to marry, you just know.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered all those people were right the day I met you.

It’s hard for me to explain what it is about our relationship that I like most… because it’s about a feeling more than words, it’s an overall sense of content and ease that I have felt from the beginning.  While this might not be the most romantic sentiment in the world, it is the foundation which we have built our love, friendship, and the beginning of our future together.

As we get closer to the big day and everything is falling into place, I am excited to have a celebration that is so ‘us’.  I look forward to becoming a McGuire as we continue our lives together.

“What is important is not how a couple looks at each other, but how they look towards their future together” – Anonymous

..and the light continued to get better and better

Again, a artsy shot we love of the two of you

Common Questions:

What do we wear?
We’ve had brides bring a portion of their entire wardrobe to the shoot, saying, “What should I wear?”  We giggle because we love fashion.  Don’t fear! Bringing your wardrobe is not necessary after you read this post!  Most commonly, our couples bring two outfits each: one casual, comfortable, everyday outfit that they feel really good in and represents them as a couple, and one dressed up look – something stylin’ that you would wear out for a special occasion date or a friend’s wedding.  Bold colors always pop on camera and add to the mood of the day.  The most important thing is that you’re confident in your look and feel it’s a good representation of your personality.

Do we shoot at more than one location?
Yes!  A typical engagement session includes two location spots fairly close by.  A lot of our couples are outdoor-lovers, so they may choose to do one natural spot and one more urban location.  We’ll communicate with you ahead of time to best understand special locations of your relationship, locations we want to shoot and recommend, or locations that connect with you both.  When traveling outside of Bend (which we love), we may reach out to you a bit more for special locations in your area.  From there, it’s all about the light, texture and background.

How long is the engagement session?
A typical engagement session is 1-2 hours.  If we’re traveling to your location and meeting face-to-face for the first time, we like to grab a cup of coffee or connect a bit prior to shooting, so plan on 2.5 to 3 hours.

When can I see the engagement pics?
After the shoot is completed, the next question is…when can we see them?  We like to post our favorites (top 10-20 images) on the blog typically within a week of the shoot; the full gallery is available 1-2 weeks after that.  Recently, for our brave brides, we’ve been including with the engagement session post a love letter from bride to groom (or vice versa) as a part of our letter series.  If you’re interested in participating, it adds such a special touch and often surprise to your fiancé.

More questions?  Please post in comments below!

…and because posts are always better with a pic, here’s a teaser of the recent engagement session of Heather + Phillip.  More to come, stay tuned!

I want to express to you how much I love you and am over the top excited to marry you! We have been together for a long time, but I still feel the great anticipation of this big step. It means a lot to me that we are ready to make these personal commitments and vows to one another, and to enter into this partnership for the rest of our lives. Our time together over these past five years have been the most fun, passionate, and life changing for me and it is all because you.

Since meeting you in class all those years ago, you have been an amazing teacher and friend. You are such a wonderful person, kind, patient, and understanding. I am such a lucky woman to have your love and respect. Meeting you has started one of the best adventures of my life and I can’t wait to grow with you and learn from you for the rest of my life.

There are so many reasons why I love you and want to be your wife, I couldn’t possibly list them all. I am so honored that you want me to be your partner in life; to be that person you choose to hike with, to camp with, to snowboard with, to play cribbage with, and someday to raise children with. August 28th will mark the beginning of our new adventure together, and I can’t wait!

Love, Katie

—

Katie + Brian,

May you revel in each other for all the days to come and remember this moment of joy and playfulness.  I know ‘adventure’ is your middle name, so here’s to the grand adventure that lay ahead!  We’re so thrilled to share in your upcoming wedding!

P.S.  We finally got the tree sap out of Byron’s shirt from this tree-climbing session – he he.

All the best,

B + W

That’s what we call magic clouds

Love this one and the candid, super sweet moment.

Don’t tell anyone the secret location of the rope swing, okay!

This is a favorite

We couldn’t help but post this fun pic Katie.  Byron was shooting from a tree limb here

This was a ‘give me some attitude’ look – Vogue style!

Love the texture of the metal here and we’re always fans of sweet kisses

Importance
We love engagement sessions for so many reasons – so much so that we include them in every collection we offer.  Why, you ask?  For us, it provides a relaxed setting to get to know you, your story and the moments you want to keep on your wedding day.  It’s a way to connect with you – our clients – and make you feel comfortable being behind the lens while having a little fun!  When you’re relaxed and having fun, we can capture the BEST smiles!

Spotlight
Zoom forward to your wedding day, now that you’ve seen our work and we’ve connect with the camera in the middle, you never have to worry about us getting those special wedding images.  Most won’t tell you this but we as photographers spend the most amount of time with you on your wedding day, as much or sometimes more than your family – really!  Spending most of your waking moments on one of the most important days of your life with someone unknown, well it’s kinda weird.  So, the engagement session brings that essential level of comfort to you on your day.

Incorporation
We also often have clients purchase a slide show of some of the favorites from the engagement shoot to incorporate into the wedding or prints for the guest book or invitations, images for their Facebook or wedding websites – these are some of the great ways of utilizing your engagement shoot as a prelude to the wedding.  A DVD of all engagement images from the session can also be purchased separately (although both engagement and wedding image DVDs are available in our high end collection).

Overall, the goal for the engagement photography session is for us to get to know you, have a little fun, and take a moment of your lives to celebrate the start of your marriage.  Let the stress of everything else in life shed away and take 2 hours just for the two of you to be together.

Here’s a few samples of  engagement sessions that capture that moment.

UPDATE: Engagement Session Basics: Part 2 (Wardrobe, Locations, Timing, Proofs, etc.)

David is in the Coast Guard and had private access to the lighthouse, a special place for them as it was the location of their first date!  Emily and David have a natural, easy love for each other that came out on camera with little to no prompting.  We have so much respect for couples that don’t mind being gooey behind the camera, showing us their love, right after our first face-to-face meeting

Emily and David, thank you for this special opportunity.  It was a slice in time for you both to just ‘be’ (away from the stress of the world) and we were so grateful to join you in that moment.  The casual comment at the end, “I feel like we’ve known you for years” is the greatest compliment.

Enjoy these and we look forward to seeing you again next month at McMenamins for your BIG day!

Best,

B + W

Dancing under the Palace

This was the kind of bridge that’s a hundred feet up off the water and wobbles when you walk over it.

The most of tender moments.

The Palace in all it’s fine glory.  It reminded us of being in Europe (in Rome particularly!).  Emily, you’re striking!

David’s sayin “Hey, cutie?  What’s your…name?”   Just kidding!  Love how relaxed you are here and the bodacious reflection!

That’s a keeper

Okay, this is a postcard shot.  Just beautiful and the light here was getting better and better!

Before the lighthouse, there was this tunnel.  I totally felt like we were in that movie The Goonies!)

Love this unusual shot through the lighthouse prism.

Emily, you’re so cute in the shot!  Adorable. – Wendy

This makes our all-time favorites list.  Love David’s eyes in the shot and Emily, your expression!

This is why we had such a hard time choosing favorites for this post!  Beautiful!

Literally, the last frame of the evening.  Stunning.