Clare | Adventurous Lake Superior Portraits | Duluth, Minnesota

Tori | College Senior Portraits on Whitetop Mountain | Abingdon, Virginia

I am all for having portraits taken for fun. Whether it’s a milestone birthday, an annual present to yourself, a celebration of graduation from high school or college, or a freaking breakup. Portrait sessions are SO MUCH FUN. You can make it feel like an REI shoot for an ad or like your a winter goddess, or both like Tori did.

We (quite the group of us) met up by 5:30am, and drove an hour to this winter wonderland to make it JUST in time for sunrise. It was cold, we had blankets and coats and a nice warm car to run to inbetween shots and locations. The ice was a struggle (and a little terrifying), but it was all pretty freaking worth it.

Also, I love my mountains up here in the Shenandoah National Park, but Whitetop Mountain blew me away. I’ve been hearing and reading about this spot for quite some time now, but I didn’t realize just how magical it was. Look at those layers! I want them painted on my wall. I’ve decided I am now going to travel down to Abingdon as much as possible.

Thank you to Tori, Ali, Matt, and Johnny for being troopers (;

Isabel | Destination Travel Portraits | Chebeague Island, Maine

Travel portraits are my favorite thing ever. When Johnny and I went to Iceland last year for our honeymoon, we hired someone to photograph us exploring the country for a couple of days and it was one of my favorite decisions. Something I think I’ll keep up as a little tradition for ourselves. Isabel had just finished baking a beautiful cake for Damian and Jesse’s wedding when we went down to the water to get some photos of her on this trip.

These photos remind me of this little mystery that popped up on the internet a few years ago. A photographer got some film developed and found gorgeous photos of a woman in the water. You can read the whole story here, and see the stunning photos. https://mymodernmet.com/meagan-abell-find-the-girls-on-the-negatives/

I love the idea of Isabel’s future generations to see these photos of her exploring the world and having stories behind these photos.