Chattanooga Musical Engagement | Diana & Ben

Sometimes, when you meet and fall in love with a couple (yes, I fall in love with my clients), you completely understand why the universe brought you together. Ben and Diana are so incredibly smitten with each other that when you are around them, you feel every ounce of it! They remind me incredible amounts of Robby and I, which only leads me to loving them even more! We also had beers and burgers after their session…I mean…really!?

It has been such a fun planning process with Diana and Ben, talking about their wedding day as well as thinking of ideas for their engagement session! When Diana told me that she would love to have their session at Ben’s parents’ house in Hixson, TN I was SO excited! There is something special about having a session where there is a strong connection. Ben’s mom was so incredibly sweet, bringing quilts and blankets for us to sit on (it was a little soggy) and asking if anything needed to be clipped or cleaned up; I adore strong knit families and both B&D have them!

Ben is also a musician. Music has always played a large factor in their relationship so when I brought up the idea of having his mandolin they were SO up for it. It also gave us the chance to hear Ben sing to Diana…lets just say I couldn’t stop smiling behind the camera! I asked Diana for a favorite song for their blog post…something I don’t normally do (like ever), but it feels perfect for them! She sent me three songs and this one just STUCK with me. So perfect…so THEM. I got chillies listening to it while writing this!

“There are way too many love songs, and I think they’ve got it all wrong.. Life is not the mountain tops, its the walking in between and I like you walking next to me.” – Ben Rector,  “I Like You”.

“Love is friendship set to music.” – Jackson Pollock

Smiles,

Kayla F

Floral Inspired Engagement Session

There comes a time when it feels amazing to walk in a field barefoot, wear a flower crown and sit amongst candle lit mason jars with your soon-to-be. This was the vision I had for a couple of months of a beautiful couple, in the wilderness snuggled around each other with flowers everywhere! Flowers are always such a large part of the wedding day, and looking back on mine, carrying my bouquet was one of my favorite parts of the day…it was just beautiful and made ME feel beautiful! So why only be surrounded by stunning florals on your wedding day…why not in your engagement session too? I reached out to my wonderful florist, Sassafras Flowers in Knoxville, TN that created my wedding day florals and asked her to be a part of this romantic vision I had.

From Allie at Sassafras:

“I was thrilled with the opportunity to collaborate with Kayla F Photography on this shoot. She gave me very loose parameters, which allowed for wide-open interpretation.  I knew the shoot was going to involve wooded areas, open fields, and little to no manmade structure.  I wanted to create pieces that complimented the beauty of nature instead of competing with it.  The garland and floral crown were inspired by the dark, thick areas of the forest: an abundance of foliage in varying shades and textures with sparsely placed accent flowers.  I wanted the lush greenery and florals to look “at home” in the setting of the shoot.”

Allie capture my vision perfectly and created a stunning floral swag, flower crown, bouquet and small accent pieces. She blew me away with how she took my small vision and brought it to life! I collaborated with Restoration Rentals in need of a small piece of furniture to make the shoot feel more “homey”. The vintage headboard was the perfect accent to set the scene without taking away from the beauty of our location!

kimmy & kassa | san francisco engagement

I know I say this with every.single couple, but its always true! I just absolutely fell IN LOVE with Kimmy & Kassa! They are two of the most in love and down to earth people I have ever met! They have amazing stories and their lives just so happened to collide into each other thousands of miles from home.

Kimmy is originally from Hong Kong and came to the States to attend college while Kassa is from Ethiopia and did the same. They both landed in the Bay Area to attend Stanford for their Ph.D.’s in Physics. Lets just say…they are smarties! 😀 I was instantly drawn to their connection with each other. They finish each others’ sentences, they love to constantly touch each other and boast about each others’ accomplishments. They genuinely are excited to be around each other and I am so so so excited that I get to document their big day in October in Palo Alto, Ca. Its going to be an amazing day!

barbara & danny | the question

Barbara and Danny went out on a complete limb when they asked me to do their engagement session! Now, thankfully, they are friends with two of my FAVorite clients ever, Jessica and Justin (you may remember their insanely awesome Christmas Tree Farm session from back in December), and they recently became friends with Keely and Scott (because who wouldn’t want to be friends with them)! Isn’t the phrase “It’s a small world” so incredibly true?! 

I fell in love with Barbara before I ever met her! She told me she was bringing peacoats…LOTS of peacoats! And when she said an ORANGE peacoat…I about died! The crazy thing is, Barbara and Danny are big ole University of Kansas fans, but they work here in Knoxville on campus. So like all transplants, they’ve fallen in love with the University of Tennessee too! I loved their outfits! Talk about being coordinating without being matchy! Perfect!!!! 

Danny and Barbara also decided to bring along their pooch Shadow! I love, love LOVE anytime couples bring along their puppers! I love me some puppers and had Diesel in our engagement photos too!

These three were troopers! Actually, all 5 of them were…Jessica and Justin tagged along to help out with Shadow and take care of him while I shot snaps of just Barbara and Danny, Lol! The rain started the night before and just continued all day long. I’m a lover of rain, it makes me giddy and I always think it smells SO good, plus it tends to bring along clouds…which are amazing for photos. But shooting in the rain presents some obstacles. However, Danny and Barbara totally rolled with me and did whatever I asked them to! Seriously, they get the trooper award! 😀

I love LOVE these next two images! We happened to find this little location because we were trying to look for some shelter from the drizzle…and lo and behold, there was Neyland Stadium in the  background. I was giddy! 

 Isn’t Shadow just the prettiest pupper ever?!?

 LOVE Shadow in this one! I see a canvas in someone’s future! 😀

Danny and Barbara, I had the BEST time with you guys on this session and I am BEYOND thrilled about your wedding day!!!! 2014 is going to be phenomenal! 😀 

Smiles,

Kayla F

Vaishali and Salt’s: the question

I am so incredibly excited to share this next session. Vaishali and Salt are the sweetest, most sincere couple I have met in quite a while. The way Salt looks at Vaishali had me squealing and jumping around with excitement the entire session! I love seeing couple so incredibly in love and especially love having them in front of my camera! It makes my job SO easy…and FUN! 😀

So Vaishali contacted me about doing her engagement session. She and Salt wanted to do it somewhere that meant a lot to them and Fall Creek Falls was perfect! This just so happened to be the spot that Salt proposed! AND not only did he propose here, but the day that worked the best for both of us just so happened to be their anniversary!!! Meant to be?? I think so! 

As we were driving up to Fall Creek Falls, I had to constantly tell myself to stop looking at the trees and concentrate on the road! The leaves were beautiful! Since we were up on the plateau, the leaves were about 2 weeks ahead of the leaves here in Knoxville and I swear they were ten times as vibrant! There wasn’t a brown tree in sight! So mix in beautiful colors, Salt and Vaishali’s outfits and some beautiful waterfalls and you get this amazing session! I couldn’t be happier hope to see Vaishali and Salt soon! 😀

 A little rain never hurt anyone…until it started to pour. Lol! 

 Probably one of my favorites of the session. I love how sincere they both are with each other! 😀

 Salt lead Vaishali on a treasure hunt for his proposal. Vaishali had no idea and hoped that at the end there would be a picnic because she was so hungry! Love them!!!!

Vaishali and Salt! I can’t even begin to tell you both how much fun I had with you two! You both rock and I hope to work with you guys so soon!!!! 

Smiles,

Kayla F

My Love for Engagement Sessions

Engagement sessions are my favorite! There, I said it! Whooo! They really and sincerely are so much fun and so relaxing and just all-around awesome!!! I highly, highly recommend to every couple that I book that they have an engagement session! If you’re out of town, and you feel like there is no way you can fit in an engagement session, let’s a least talk about it! 😀  Let’s take 2 hours the week of your wedding and just hang out and take pictures. You don’t need to get all jazzed up; it can be a fun, laid back session that also serves as a nice break from all the crazy-week-of, last minute details and also allows you and your love to spend some fun, “un-wedding” time together…leave the tool and ribbon at home! 🙂 

I know a lot of grooms (and even brides) don’t see the benefit of doing an engagement session. This just absolutely breaks my heart! Let me tell you firsthand how beneficial engagement sessions are. Robby and I had an awesome engagement session. Now, it wasn’t with our wedding day photographer, but still being in front of the camera made us learn a lot!! Here are some things that you might not have thought about!

1.      I have never (and I say never) had a bride or groom say they regretted doing the engagement session. They are so.much.fun! Not only do you get to hang out with me for 2 hours (just kidding) but you also get to hang out with your love! There are no expectations, no rules, no limits!! It’s just you guys having fun! Who could ask for anything more?

2.      It allows for me to get to know you even more for the big day! It lets me learn what makes you comfortable and uncomfortable and allows for you to better understand me and how I work. Plus, when I tell you on the wedding day, “Oh, remember that pose we did at the engagement session that you totally rocked,” you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Or if I say, “Oh James, remember that cute little thing you told Ashley that made her feel absolutely stunning…tell her something else”, you won’t feel silly. It sounds corny but we will have a connection on the wedding day! This in turn makes wedding day pictures go SO much more smoothly!

3.      You can use the engagement pictures FOR the wedding day! Need an announcement for the paper? Want to send out photo Save-The-Dates or Thank You cards? Want to have a photo guest book? There are so many fun things you can do with your engagement photos that make your wedding day even more unique.

4.      If you are able to do an engagement session…and it doesn’t frighten you ;), it is a fantastic time to do a trial run of your makeup! Having your makeup done will not only make you feel insanely beautiful, but it will LAST through the engagement session. No raccoon eyes in the middle of July or barely there lips in chilly November!

My amazing December bride, Keely, was insanely sweet and wrote a little something something about her engagement session:
“Our session for our engagement pictures was AMAZING with Kayla! Scott sometimes gets tired of having his picture taken, so I was initially concerned with how long his smile would last, but Kayla kept us laughing the entire session so he had a great, natural smile throughout all of the pictures! We also felt completely comfortable with Kayla. We took our pictures outside near the Grist Mill at Norris Dam, and Kayla took us around to multiple spots and just observed us how we are. She got great shots that did not look posed at all. Needless to say, the pictures turning out wonderful and the quality was so great we printed them on magnets to send out for our save the dates. Can’t wait to see how our wedding day pictures turn out!!” – Keely

And because I absolutely LOVE my engagement pictures, I thought I would share one that shows just how much fun we really did have! 😀

So if you are a future or current bride, please definitely consider an engagement session! Its a great time for you and your love to spend some time together just having fun, and in the end…you’ll have some amazing pictures! 🙂
Smiles,
Kayla F

The Question: Erin and Tommy

I had the awesome opportunity to photograph Erin and Tommy in June out in Oak Ridge. Not only did I get to play around in the UT Arboretum out in Oak Ridge but I got a guy who tends to be on the serious side to laugh and actually enjoy himself! Mission Accomplished!! 😉

Erin is currently a Grad student down in Georgia and Tommy is a computer programmer…I know…they are smarty pants! But believe it or not, I actually had a LOT to talk with Tommy about! Yay! Since Robby is a software engineer and I was in the IT recruiting world for a short while, I know the buzz words, and it actually holds some interest to me. So off we went, traipsing through the forest, taking pics and talking computer talk. I hope you guys enjoy this super fun and relax engagement shoot! Erin and Tommy, I hope you guys have the BEST wedding out Cumberland Mtn!!!

Seriously?? How about this ring? I love something that goes above and beyond the traditional engagement ring! Erin said she didn’t want a diamond…and Tommy listened and did a GREAT job!!

When I asked Tommy to tickle Erin…he was more than happy to do so! Adorable!!!

So stinking cute!! 

the question: keely and scott

I am absolutely thrilled about the engagement session that I had up at Grist Mill a couple of weeks ago! To start off the story, Keely’s awesome cousin, Hayley (Maid of Honor), is actually best friends with one of my best friends!!! What a coincidink! So Haley passed my name along to Keely and that is when the love fest happened! 🙂 Just kidding, but I did instantly fall in love with Keely and Scott! They are sooooo smitten with each other and we had such a ball up at Grist Mill with their engagement session! Sadly, I have never made my way up to Grist Mill so I was incredibly excited to have a new location to play with! And boy did we have fun! We were playing with the sun a little bit (crazy time change) so we took some time and walked around the area to get a feel for some great spots. 

I absolutely love this next series…

Keely and Scott were so laughy, cuddly and just all around lovely! I don’t believe there is anything more that I could ask for! 

 I have to say that once we changed outfits, I really felt things start to click and just work! This is one reason why I highly recommend engagement sessions. You never know what to expect on the day of your wedding. If you know how I work, and I know what makes you comfortable (and uncomfortable) then the wedding day is a piece of cake! There’s no stress of not knowing how to do things or not knowing what you should do. I consider the engagement session a trial run per se! 🙂 And boy is it a fun run!! 🙂

We ended the day at this beautiful area of trees right down the road from Grist Mill. It was literally the perfect place for my favorite pictures from this session!! The green, the sunset, the trees…I was one happy girl! 

Keely and Scott…December 1st can’t get here fast enough!! I am beyond excited to spend the best day of your lives with you!!! 🙂

Keely and Scott are also the first recipients of the wedding website that I offer! Yay!!! If you are interested in having a wedding website with your package make sure you let me know and check out Scott and Keely’s HERE!

Thankful

Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday! So many people always ask “Why? Isn’t Christmas your favorite?” Don’t get me wrong, Christmas rocks, but Thanksgiving was always the time of year where I got to see my entire family! I didn’t grow up with my grandparents right down the street from me where we saw them every Sunday like so many of my friends did. My grandparents lived 6 hours away! So going up to Covington, VA to see them was a huge deal! It didn’t matter if I spent Thanksgiving with my Gammy and Pawpaw and the whole Dressler side of the family, or if we went and had a delicious meal with my Meemaw and Papaw and the Folks family; we got to spend time together. To me, that is the essence of Thanksgiving. Spending the day with the people you love the most. There are no expectations (except that the ham better be a Virginia spiral and not honey baked), but just hanging out with my amazing cousins, my hilarious and usually always crazy aunts, hearing the best stories and having stimulating conversations with my aunt and uncle…these are the memories that have literally consumed my childhood and now adulthood. 

So now that I’m done being mushy, here are some special reasons why I am so thankful this year. 2011 has been a pretty fantastic year; not just for me personally, but also in pursuing my dream of becoming a photographer. So I am going to leave you with a couple of pictures from each of my sessions this year. Whether it was completely smitten couples, big bellies, crying babies or the big day, I have grown to love all of my clients. You all are so incredibly special to me! I’m thankful for each and every one of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Market Square and Marble Slab

I am so incredibly excited to share this post with all of you! Meet Megan, Josh, Ryder and Rico! They are one adorable little family that is about to make it official on April 9th and they have asked me to document their big day!! I am beyond thrilled that they are my first wedding! I don’t think I could have gotten any luckier! So Megan and Josh really wanted to head down to Krutch Park and Market Square b/c this is where they had their first date. They spent hours just walking around Market Square and talking and before they knew it, shops were closing up and the square was empty. I love those stories; when you get completely lost in conversation and it feels like you have been talking for 10 minutes, not 5 hours! So off we went to Krutch Park. It was a Friday evening so the place was busy, which gave us such a great vibe. Ryder and Rico stole the show for the first little bit and I had so much fun playing and taking pictures of them!

I love this picture of Josh. He was looking at Megan so sweetly, but with that little grin. They made each other crack up all afternoon.

We bustled around the ponds for a little while with the pups and then I thought of the idea of some ice cream…which oh so happens to be something that Megan and Josh did on their first date! I was beyond thrilled!

We had so much fun in that little creamery…maybe too much.

But nothing a little kissy kissy couldn’t make up for!

Megan and Josh had told me that they were really wanting some fun and funky pictures…nothing boring for these two; they had mentioned some ideas about graffiti before so I knew exactly where I wanted to take them! We had a blast back here in the alleys…pigeons and all.

I cannot express how much fun I had with you Megan and Josh (plus your pupsters)!! I can’t wait…less than one week and I will see you guys again! 🙂