For a family that has a photographer as a son/brother, we sure do hate having our photos taken. I've never convinced anybody in my family to let me take their photo, outside of the occasional snapshot. So when my sister, Emily, finally gave me the opportunity to have a hour and a half mini-session I was excited to see what we could get. And alas. I totally love it.

After mom saw Emily's photos she was finally convinced maybe I actually do know what I'm doing with a camera and allowed me five minutes to get a shot of her.

Special note to Elizabeth, next time I see you, I'm fully expecting to have you on here as well. :)

I have one of the coolest gigs ever. It may seem as simple as just taking photos in exchange for mad cash, but when you look a little closer, you realize how truly awesome a job like this is. Not only am I documenting something like a child's innocence, or a couple's wedding, but when you get to see someone from behind the lens, you get to see a side of them that no one sees. It starts out as a nervousness or shyness, but when that fades away, you see the people for who they really are. And when I shot this session with Eric & Cassie I saw these people for what they really are. And that's truly in love.

I had met Cassie way back in the day in my freshmen year of high school when I was just starting to get interested in photography. We took the same class called "digital imaging" which was pretty much my first serious dive into Photoshop and image manipulation. And when I finally got to meet Eric before we started the session their chemistry was undeniable. Those two are like peas in a pod.

I'm always really excited to have the privilege of taking photos of somebody, or a couple from where I used to live in West Virginia. It feels great to know although that they have other local photographers, they still like my style enough to hire me. (So thanks, Cassie and Eric, you guys are amazuhzing.)

Our session started at New River Gorge bridge in West Virginia, and since all three of us were not from the area we had absolutely no ideas for locations to shoot. We literally drove around back roads and through small towns looking for a place to shoot. I'm the kind of person that I like to have stuff planned down to exact timing on which locations to shoot, but going with the flow that day was definitely fun! We took a visit through downtown historic Fayetteville, found surprise hayfields, stopped traffic in busy streets and considered stealing a golf cart.

Overall I had an absolute blast shooting this couple, and I hope you'll enjoy just some of the images below.