Bentonville Fair Engagement Session
There isn’t a couple I have ever loved more. That’s not me saying these are my favorites, I couldn’t possibly pick after over a decade of doing this job, but it is me saying that these two families, and these two people are the absolute salt of the earth. Kind, giving, loving, creative, beautiful humans that gave me the rare chance to photograph a really special time in their lives. So, naturally - there’s a story here.
OF COURSE, we’re going to share the unbelievable images of Alie in her wedding dress at Greystone Estate. Some of the most dramatic and beautiful bridal photos I’ve ever taken surrounded by iconic and modern architectural lines that perfectly echoed one of the most beautiful dresses I’ve ever seen.
OF COURSE, I’m going to blog all about this wedding. Osage House was absolutely transformed by tens of thousands of florals perfectly styled by Samantha’s Garden, perfectly dreamed up and coordinated by Katie from Amanda Reed Weddings, perfectly lit by Lightworks, and perfectly soundtracked through the entire night by our friends from Lost Wax. I’ll get there, I promise. It was incredible.
BUT FIRST. First I have to start this little trifecta of photography with this engagement session. When Alie and Hunter asked me to be their photographer I was over the moon. Sidebar here, I’ve worked with Alie, and her parents who own Samantha’s Garden for ages. They’re absolutely nothing short of artists with what they do with flowers and as flattered as I was to get the call I was equally a little bit anxious. If you’ve followed along on my instagram posts about these two you know I poke fun at Alie for making this look like a Kardashian wedding. The girl is just absolutely breath taking and as we dreamt up ways to make even a place like Osage House that is already so beautiful, even more unique I started to feel some pressure. And then (before I jump into the wrong story here) came this session.
Alie calls me and says “what do you think about doing an engagement session at the fair?”
It was a good question without a great answer. I had no idea. Benton County’s fair isn’t exactly enormous but the truth is I had never been. I was picturing some rides, a lot of dust, and a lot more cowboy boots but who knows right? So I said, “let’s give it a go!” I did a tiny bit of research, realized we’d avoid a lot of the crowds going earlier in the day and I’d give myself the added challenge of shooting in technical harsh light to shooting in a very public place with a lot of super odd shapes, colors, and frankly… people around. This kind of get’s me to the meat of this blog post : a few tips you could learn from this session on how to make an engagement session truly unique.
Alie and Hunter dressed in the most beautifully contrasting way to the scene. It’s the reason they pop off. They could have easily gone extremely casual and looked like they fit right into this scene but instead they chose to jump off the backgrounds and the results feel more like an editorial than an afternoon at the fair. If you’re going to try and shoot in a pretty recognizable environment (like a fair) dress in a way that adds some flair to it. I should have just called that tip add some flair to the fair, but that didn’t hit me until just now.
Photographers this one’s for you. Stop hiding in the easy light. You don’t get better when you don’t try new things, and you don’t get more valuable if you’re not getting better… AND, you don’t have any room to complain about not having the clients you want, the money you want or the shots you want if you’re not getting better, and getting more valuable by trying new things. That was a lot, did you track with it all? The moment a photographer succumbs to only shooting at golden hour the other 23 hours of the day become immediately invaluable. So this light was tricky, the dust, the shapes of the rides and games in the background, the hot sun, and the people. It was all tricky and the key to it all? Communication. Alie, Hunter, and I had to all be in this one together. Not two models and a photographer, the three of us. We were creating together. Shooting little moments of cuteness, creating little vignettes of art, trying little compositions that could have just as easily failed as succeeded - together.
Vision requires focus. I got to this session about 30 minutes early to adjust to the light. Protip here, don’t wear sunglasses on shoot days. I want my eyes to understand what I’m seeing. I don’t take too much gear so that I feel conflicted about what to shoot, but I also don’t pack too little so I can’t try things as they show up. For me there are typically 3-4 lenses riding along with me to a session like this, some great music in the car on the way there, a prep sheet, and a pep talk for my couple’s before they even arrive. Remove the unnecessary stress and boil it down to a concoction of fun, light, and creativity.
You know what says the most to me? When I sent these photos over to Alie her response was wild. She said she loved these photos even more than the ones they had taken together in Italy earlier last year. Read that slower with me, photos we took in a tiny half broken down county fair in Bentonville, Arkansas beat out the couple’s session in Italy. Mind blown right? Well kind of, because in fact it was what we were shooting for.
Connection.
Two beautiful people madly in love in a creative place to set the tone for a lot more creativity to come. And it did. If you want to prep for your engagement session, or just like this post and want to see more like it check out any of these sessions below! Also - if you recently got a ring on your finger and you’re on the hunt for a wedding photographer either in the Northwest Arkansas area or anywhere else in the world (we’ve done this all over the world these days) make sure and click “connect” and let’s chat! Until next time.. XOXO - Miles.
Finally don’t miss the all new article we just released call the ULTIMATE ARKANSAS WEDDING PLANNING GUIDE with a sneak peek into Alie + Hunter’s wedding!
