Shirk Photography Blog: Beautiful Engagement

Megan and Sam love the outdoors and wanted to do something that reflected who they were. We did some brainstorming together and came up with the idea of photographing them along the banks of the river. I few days before their session I happened to get up a little earlier (okay a lot earlier) than usual and as I was driving to one of my sessions I saw the steam rising off the water as I crossed the bridge just before sun rise and thought that it looked pretty amazing. So later that day I called them and told them that I wanted to reschedule their session for sunrise (most days that is out of the question because I normally work past midnight). That morning I got up extra early, loaded the boat and all my equipment and was on the river before sunrise. Luckily last year I had come across the perfect old oar boat and had purchased it just in case I ever needed it for a session. I found some old oars in the attic of my parents garage that happened to match the boat exactly. I also brought one of my old muslin backgrounds that was just the right color and texture for making a cool vintage tent. When I got to the river the steam was rising off the river and the sun was just beginning to have the pink orange glow of sunrise. I loaded a bunch of my equipment into the boat and oared a few hundred yards downstream to a sand bar along the bank. I pulled the boat to shore and quickly began setting up everything. I found two pieces of drift wood and stuck them into the sand to make the poles of the tent and tied a rope between them then draped my background across to make a tent. Then I laid down an old quilt on the ground for them to sit on.. Then I gathered some firewood and placed an picnic basket near the tent with an old book setting on top. Soon Megan and Sam arrived. There was a steep trail that lead down from the road above to the sandbar that they followed down. The steam was still rising off the water and the sun had now broken over the trees lighting the sand bar, tent and oar boat in a golden haze and the rest of the morning.... well see for yourself.