Ryan + Caylie

|| Dawes Arboretum Newark, Ohio ||

Dawes Arboretum is one of my favorite locations for engagement photography sessions and weddings. I heard about Dawes Arboretum about 10 years ago, but never visited the park until I was actually living near it. So, I have been going to it for about eight years… which, now that I think about it, sounds crazy long! I used to go running there all the time since they have over four miles of paved roads with their Auto Tour, plus all the trails for trail running. Once I got our Border Collie, Bentley, I took him there all the time for walks and runs. It is a gorgeous park and amazing in any season. I don’t even think I have a favorite season at the park because each season is special and unique in its own way.

Spring has its benefits in the gorgeous magnolias and crabapple trees blooming at that time. It smells delicious while you are walking on the trails and running on the road, and going through the stretch around the Magnolia trees is so pretty. In Summer, there are lush greens everywhere, the trees, the grass, the bushes; everything is so green and full of life. During the Fall, Dawes Arboretum is a special place, too. Since it is an arboretum, you can only imagine the trees bursting with fall colors. The tree colors in sync with the prairie grasses that have been growing all summer is a photographer’s dream. We snuck in Caylie and Ryan’s photography engagement session in the Autumn. They were visiting for Thanksgiving weekend and we were able to photograph their engagement session the day after Thanksgiving.

I was so excited to see Caylie and Ryan again, I hadn’t seen them since their first meeting with me. They were such troopers for their session. If you don’t remember this past Thanksgiving, it was freezing! It was our first real taste of winter; windy and cold. They were freezing their buns off, but did an amazing job smiling and laughing through it all!  I had them do a lot of snuggling and giving big hugs to each other in the pictures so they could use each other for extra body warmth! I am so happy they took a leap and decided to come to Dawes for their engagement photography session! Even with the crazy weather, the trees did not disappoint and the landscape was perfect for them!  Thank you so much Caylie and Ryan!! I can not wait until your wedding this June at Wedgewood Golf & Country Club.