Hannah + Austin
A Sunkissed Engagement Session in Pacific City at Cape Kiwanda, OR
Ohhhhh man… am I in LOVE with Hannah and Austin’s Engagement Session! I connected with Hannah through our bi-yearly engagement session giveaway, and even though she wasn’t one of the winners, she took advantage of our Adventure Session offer and booked an engagement session in the beautiful Cape Kiwanda with Dom and I to celebrate her and Austin’s engagement last September!
Austin was a little trepidatious about the whole taking-photos-for-three-hours concept, and the chilly wind sweeping over the Pacific made for quite a cold evening, but despite all this he had his game-face on and was willing to put up with all my silliness and crazy ideas to hike to the very tip-top of the dunes to create some magical images celebrating his and Hannah’s love!
We met up in the parking area and you could tell the people of Oregon were pretty excited about the sun, as I’ve never seen so many people out and about enjoying the beach of Pacific City! Packing bags with a change of clothes, we headed across the beach to a little alcove which was semi-protected from the wind to work out all those nerves that come about the first time someone points a camera in your direction.
Hannah and Austin were naturals however, and you’ll see below many of our “test images” which ended up already being so great that they made my “Kate’s Favorites” list!
2020 was a rough year for Hannah and Austin and their family, as Austin’s parent’s house was lost to the massive fires that plagued Oregon last year. Austin is an electrician however, and is spending much of his time now split between helping his parents with their rebuild and helping Hannah fix up Hannah’s grandpa’s house which they recently moved into.
In their free time they love spending time outdoors and Austin is a big sportsman and loves to spend at least one week a year out in the wilderness Elk hunting.
Hannah also has a huge penchant for traveling, and she even chose her career as a teacher specifically to be able to have the freedom to travel during the summers.
As we transitioned from the relatively secluded shade of the large dunes and headed over to the coastal grass to shelter Austin and Hannah as they changed into their second outfits, we chatted about their future, goals, dreams and aspirations. The two of them make for just the most wonderful couple and it was a pleasure seeing their level of communication and love in their relationship.
As the sun started getting lower in the sky and golden hour approached, we took the path to the top of the cliffs which make Cape Kiwanda such an attractive location for epic Oregon Coast photography. Both Hannah and Austin were adventurous enough to agree to hike up the very narrow path leading to a small patch of trees which allowed for some truly romantic lighting as the setting sun shone through Hannah’s gorgeous flowing white dress.
After freezing in the whipping wind at the top of the dunes for a few epic wide shots, we turned back to the trees for a little shelter and to bundle back up for the hike back down to the beach and the long drive home as Hannah and Austin were planning to make it back to their hometown of Redmond that night!
It was a magical evening and by the end Austin even admitted that he actually had more fun than he ever thought he would have taking photos, one of the highest compliments I feel I can receive as a photographer. :)
Enjoy the portraits of these two love-birds below and be sure to check out Hannah’s custom engagement ring and drop them congrats on their engagement in the comments below!
