Paul & Travis are ENGAGED!! Paul is a friend of ours from California who we met in our additional formal degrees in photography in Santa Barbara (BOTH in our BFA Commercial Photography and MFA Fine Art Photography programs). We actually hired his fiance Travis to watch our pets in our home (life SAVER) for the weekend when we were in Alaska/ Canada/ Seattle 8 months ago at the end of summer, but hadn’t yet met him in person prior to this past weekend! Paul has been planning this proposal for months and reached out to us initially trying to figure out logistics & a good month to fly out from California to propose to Travis in Indiana since he wanted us to capture the deeply important memory of their engagement.
These two see each other certain months of the year taking turns flying across the country with Travis being from the city above Santa Barbara- Ventura (which is how these two met initially). Travis has been in Indiana over the past year getting another degree: A BSN Nursing degree in Indianapolis! Travis walked in his graduation on Thursday just one week ago, so Paul as planned flew in on Wednesday to join Travis and friends in celebrating Travis’ graduation! For the following day Paul told Travis that he’d hired us to take celebratory photos of the two of them at a few spots he’d picked out and that they would be going to a graduation dinner with their other friends afterward-! And now what you’ve really been waiting for… the photos-!
We headed out early Friday morning to scout 3 locations down in Indy that Paul had chosen (suggested by Travis), then met these two at their first spot of gardens in Indianapolis. Travis had just walked in graduation not 24 hours earlier, so these two were all smiles as we captured them throughout the gardens in a handful of locations.
This was our first time meeting Travis in person, but we immediately all gelled probably because of how easy-going, kind, and fun he is. (And we all love Paul, so we had that in common already!) These two were extremely easy to photograph together since unlike some couples, these two were extremely comfortable around each other and naturally gravitate toward softly holding and cuddling one another. Though scenery is semi important in photoshoots, the most important factor is how comfortable a couple is with one another and that they genuinely want to hold on to each other/ embrace each other kindly. These two truly embody the utmost comfort that a couple should feel with one another and it visually showed!
Throughout the Session these two laughed together and goofed around throughout the entire thing. It’s clear that they love each other fully and accept each other exactly how they are, so we know that they are in it for the long haul. Those who are so open, kind, and goofy with each other with no pretense are always the ones who are able to withstand anything together and these two are well on their way to a lifetime of commitment and love together.
We headed to location two soon after the pond which was a shaded garden at the zoo where these two had spent time a year ago. This is where Paul had planned to propose, so we had chosen a beautiful spot when we were there earlier in the day so that it would be intimate and not filled with families. While photographing the two of them we kept them in one spot for all too long thinking that Paul would propose, but then realized that it was not happening yet and moved them around to different spots. When it became obvious that Paul wanted to propose, Jason got confused by the gestures and started to leave, then get right up next to them, and then put the camera down before he got the clue, so it was a comedy of errors that luckily Travis didn’t notice behind the scenes!
Once we were more settled, Paul got down on one knee on a path on the far edge of the gardens and proposed right then and there to Travis! These two couldn’t stop smiling at one another as Travis of course said YES!
Paul was visibly relieved and as the nerves wore off he and Travis hugged and kissed. The two put their rings on, embraced, laughed, talked about the rings, and started to discuss when and who to tell the good news to! These two are deeply loved and supported by so many, so it was important to them that they tell their families and best friends first before announcing it to everyone all at once.
We were so honored to get to partake in and capture one of the biggest moments of these twos’ lives. The support of our couples’ friends and families is something that always warms our hearts. Getting to hear the support and love that these two received when they called some of their family & friends to let them know filled us with joy and made it clear to us that they are beyond loved.
After the actual proposal we headed to their final spot in downtown Indianapolis for some final photos before these two headed to celebratory dinner with their friends! We walked around the river and captured these two in the beautiful spring flowering trees within the downtown scene on what was actually the first non-rainy day ALL week! It seems as if the rain held off just for these two-!
The river in downtown Indianapolis was pretty calm since it was a weekday, but we did have a good amount of random people calling out to Travis and Paul congratulating these two on their engagement which was pretty wonderful! (Honestly that hardly ever happens during Engagement Sessions and we’ve been capturing them for 10 years!)
Right at the end of the Session Jason wanted a couple last lively photos of these two, so he asked Paul to hop over Travis and they definitely did deliver (showcasing their hilarious, fun-loving personalities pretty well since we didn’t include even a fraction of the funny outtakes in here)!
We were extremely sad to see them go, but couldn’t be happier for Paul & Travis! It’s clear that these two amazing people are deeply in love and we’ve loved watching their relationship and love blossom through the years. We were so honored to get to capture these two at their literal proposal/ Engagement Session just a day after Travis’ graduation and know that there’s so much more in store for these two over the next year/ lifetime! CONGRATULATIONS from the bottom of our hearts, you two! We’re so proud of you and happy for you! Thank you so much for letting us capture your immense love of one another and we cannot wait for you two to see each other next!
Coming up in a couple days we’ll be capturing the rehearsal dinner for Chicagoans Victoria & Alex! We’ll also be capturing their WEDDING entire day in about 2.5 days coming up here in South Bend! Next week we’ll be speed choosing and editing photos for their wedding Teasers, then after next weekend’s craziness, capturing Tennesseans Malyssa & Dakota’s Engagement Session followed by 3 weekends straight of wedding photography locally from a couple weddings fully at Notre Dame (Basilica and receptions also on campus) and an Oliver Mansion/ Michigan Lake wedding day-! We have so much that we’re looking forward to capturing and are happy to have finalized so many details and wedding schedules-! We’ll be sharing all of these wonderful weddings and engagements weekly, so stay tuned throughout this entire Spring, Summer, & Fall for some wonderful couples!