Kelly + TJ
A Sunrise Engagement Session on Mount Hood
Driving up to Mount Hood at 6am and pulling off the highway for the road to Trillium Lake, I had both my fingers and toes crossed that the sunrise would bring with it clear skies, showing off Hood in all her glory. As we parked and walked to the lake my heart skipped a beat as the morning couldn’t have brought a more stunning view. Trillium Lake had a thin line of morning fog still clinging to the water’s edge and the sunlight was just creeping over the sides of Hood’s glacier, glistening off the snow-caped peak and lighting the morning with it’s beauty.
I couldn’t think of a more deserving couple to have such a perfect morning than these two! TJ and Kelly met online and had been together for 5 years when TJ proposed. Mount Hood, and especially Trillium Lake is a special place for them, as throughout their relationship they spent many long summer days enjoying the lake, floating on its pristine waters while looking up at Portland’s iconic mountain.
TJ and Kelly used to be wedding photographers themselves and were drawn to our work when they recognized a similarity in editing and color styles. Chatting with them over zoom, I loved swapping stories about crazy wedding days and laughing as their two gorgeous pups Link and Chug came in and out of the frame.
Kelly and TJ are both lovers fo travel, and similar to Dom and I, are not native to Portland. Kelly is from PA originally and TJ grew up abroad in Valencia, Spain. They met while Kelly was at grad school in Lewis and Clark and have been inseparable ever since.
Another thing I love about these two is that TJ is obsessed with fish! When we were first chatting, they were undecided on a wedding venue yet and one option they were considering as getting married in an Aquarium! They ended up choosing a different venue, but I’d never thought of how cool it would be to have a wedding practically underwater! As SCUBA divers, and lovers of the ocean, Dom and I are now tempted to somehow arrange a sweet photoshoot in an aquarium ourselves!
When TJ and Kelly arrived at Trillium, they looked absolutely stunning. TJ was nice dress pants and a white button up which had a delicate intricate pattern to it and Kelly looked absolutely stunning in a long flowy blue dress. They were troopers as I immediately had them step out onto the stones dotting the lake’s edge, a tad unsteady in their formal shoes at first, for a few initial poses while the fog continued to burn off the edge of the lake.
As any photographer will tell you, we get extra nervous in front of the camera, and Kelly and TJ both noted how strange it was to be on the “lens side” of things. With a few silly prompts however, these two were laughing and relaxed in no time, as TJ especially had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve to give Kelly the giggles.
After enjoying moving into the sun to get a little warmer, we packed up and headed out from Trillium lake to a snow park just up the road which offered a more secluded session spot. Kelly and TJ changed into their more casual outfits and as we navigated over to a small river we got to chat about their wedding plans a bit more.
Kelly and TJ are planning a beautiful wedding at Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove, NJ and will be traveling back and forth a few times to arrange the various plans that go into creating a wedding. Dom and I are so stinking excited, as neither of us have been to New Jersey before and we love exploring and traveling so I was asking Kelly all about the area, getting a feel for what we have in store!
Kelly and TJ brought along a bottle of bubbly to pop in celebration and let me tell you- TJ knows how to pop champaign! He had that bottle spraying 4 feet in the air I swear as Kelly laughed and held out their McMenamin’s glasses to fill up.
We wrapped up the morning by doing a tiny bit of rock crawling, while I took some wide shots highlighting the beautiful view of the valley spreading out below hood and all too soon it was time to drive back to the city.
Enjoy this small selection of images from Kelly and TJs shoot and be sure to drop some love for this amazing couple in the comments section at the bottom!
