Dogs, Fall Color & Forever | Rachel & Dustin | Abrams Parl - Ridgefield, Washington

Some sessions feel less like work and more like a really good afternoon with people you already like.

Rachel and Dustin showed up to Abrams Park in Ridgefield, Washington with two dogs in coordinating bandanas — one black lab in plaid, one brindle in gingham — and an energy that made every frame easy. The fall color was fully cooperating. Golden yellow and orange everywhere you looked, leaves covering the ground, the creek running quietly through the trees behind them. It was the kind of October afternoon that reminds you why you live in the Pacific Northwest.

Abrams Park in Ridgefield is a beautiful location for an engagement session — the mix of open grassy areas, wooded trails, wooden footbridges, and creek-side spots gives you so much variety in a single afternoon. We moved through all of it. The dogs came along for the first half and were shockingly well-behaved, sitting on command like they had done this before, which honestly they probably had.

What I love most about photographing couples like Rachel and Dustin is that you don't have to manufacture anything. The piggyback rides happened because that's just what they do. The laughing happened because that's who they are. The close-up where they're both cracking up at something — that's real. I just had to keep up.

I photographed their wedding the following year at the McLean House in Portland, and I can tell you that everything you see in these frames translated completely to their wedding day. The ease. The joy. The way they are with each other. You can read all about that day here.

Rachel and Dustin — this session is still one of my favorites. Thank you for the dogs, the leaves, and the good afternoon.

Location: Abrams Park | Ridgefield, Washington

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