Every single couple and every single photoshoot is special to me in some way or other. But this particular shoot with Anna and Luke in downtown Minneapolis was especially special because it was my first engagement shoot since moving home to Minnesota. It was its own homecoming of sorts, a sweet reminder of how lucky I am to serve my couples… and in a place I now call ‘home’ again. 

Romantic Photos on St Anthony Main in Downtown Minneapolis

Let me paint you a picture: Cobblestone streets lined with lampposts. A stone arch bridge rising out of the mist. Christmas lights adorning the brick and mortars on the street and reflecting in the cafe windows. The most blissfully-in-love couple twirling around in the early morning fog, entirely unaware of anything but each other.

Sound like a Hallmark Christmas movie? It may as well have been for how dreamy and romantic this engagement photoshoot was!

Anna and Luke opted for their engagement to be captured on one of the most iconic avenues in downtown Minneapolis, at one of the most renowned venues the city holds. But we didn’t just scout this location for its historic status. The Aster Cafe is also a nod to Anna and Luke’s history as a couple, reminiscent of the cafes of Paris where Anna and Luke got engaged and where Anna’s grandmother is originally from. Adding in ‘tiny-in-theory’ details like this not only adds a personal touch to an engagement shoot but also helps my couples be more comfortable in their surroundings (and in front of the camera). Anna and Luke were able to find a way of embracing and intertwining that came naturally to them, simply because I gave them the space to exist in an environment that felt familiar and elemental to their love story. Not only were we capturing photos, but we were creating an intentional moment for Anna and Luke to reminisce on where their relationship started and how far it has come. 

A lot of times, my couples will express hesitation around being in front of the camera. They’ll ask: “But how will I know how to act? What do I do with my hands? How should I pose?” Here’s the thing— You know how to touch and embrace. You know how to be together; that comes naturally to you. I’ll give you plenty of space to be yourselves in an adventurous setting that feels familiar, and you’ll easily fall into a comfortable rhythm with your person. I promise.

How I Use Perspective as a Documentary-Style Photographer

As a documentary-style photographer, I love playing with different perspectives. It’s magical to me how the exact same people in the exact same setting can be so drastically transformed simply by me physically changing where I am in relationship to the couple. This engagement shoot in downtown Minneapolis— with the stone arch bridge rising up out of the fog and the city off in the distance through the haze— was the perfect opportunity for me to play with these perspectives while Anna and Luke continued to be entirely lost in the fog together. 

The bridge was casting marvelous shadows on the water while I moved around Anna and Luke. My focus on crafting romantic images through varying views also gave them the opportunity to have fun in their experience without me hovering over them. I was able to give them a little bit of space to just be themselves, while having my own fun with angles and lighting and that stunning fog! I am there to embrace and highlight the way things actually are while you delight in the magic of the adventure. The fog could so easily have been seen as a downer on the day, but instead, it was one of the things that made the shoot. It created such a romantic ambience around Anna and Luke! 

If you’re looking for a photographer that will capture your adventurous, whimsical romance and exactly what it feels like, inquire with me!