If you're local to Northeast Alabama and you have never visited Cherokee Rock Village in Leesburg, AL - you are missing out!! The park is probably most frequented by rock climbers & campers, but on this warm March afternoon, we visited for an engagement session!
I feel so privileged to photograph all my clients, but Andrew + Bre's session (and their upcoming wedding!!) is a super special one to me. Andrew is one of my husband, Noah's, childhood best friends!! The first time the four of us got together, I knew Bre would be a lifelong friend of mine also! They were the perfect couple to kick off my wedding season this year! I can't wait for you to see my favorites from their engagement session.
"Definitely can't choose a favorite"
Before I suggest locations for sessions, I always ask my clients if they have anywhere in mind or somewhere that is special to them. Andrew immediately responded with Cherokee Rock Village. He loves to go explore & camp here and knew it would be a perfect backdrop for his and Bre's engagement photos!
Keep scrolling to see why!
We started off Andrew + Bre's engagement session tucked away in the pine trees. We got there a little early and the sun wasn't quite low enough yet to get good shots on what this park is known for - the rocky overlooks - so I found a nice shady area in the forrest for us to take a few photos. I always love finding areas to tuck myself into the trees & use branches as foreground to give the feel of peeking into a private moment of the couple. I also love getting ring shots on pine branches, but I think that's because when I first started getting serious about photography, I took a couple hundred photos of my own engagement ring on pine branches to practice!
P.S. isn't Bre's engagement ring STUNNING! I can't wait to photograph it with her wedding details!!
As we made our way over to those iconic rocky ledges, I noticed this pretty little spot where the forrest and rocks merge. I just love the dreamy light in these photos! This spot just felt like something out of fairytale!! I'm kind of kicking myself for not doing more here, but like all golden hour sessions, I knew we were on a race with the sun and needed to move on if I wanted to get good variety in this gallery.
We finally made our way over to the location I think Andrew + Bre were most excited for - the cliffside overlooking gorgeous Weiss Lake! The sun was still kind of high, so I was so happy to find a shady spot where you could still get the good view of the lake in the background. I was so pleased with all the beautiful spots we had visited, so we decided to call it quits... until...
We were about to wrap up the session - in fact, I had just told them we were done - when I noticed the dirt path on the drive in would be a great spot for us to grab just a few more. If you've ever been photographed by me, you know that I am always hard pressed to make myself stop shooting.. just like in "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" I'm always wanting to take just a few more!
I'm so glad I asked if we could sneak in a couple more shots, because I just love how these turned out!
After that, I told them we really are done now!!
Even if I had found more lovely spots to take them, the sun was almost set & telling me we had to be done anyway.
Thanks for coming along to this session!
If you aren't convinced yet that you need to check out Cherokee Rock Village, be sure to click that hyperlink to their website to see what all they have to offer!
Other than a beautiful location to take your engagement photos, that is. ;)
