Rachel + Eric - The Great Darke County Fair Engagement Session

So. That is an insane amount of images...I know. This is proof of why it is so hard for me to put together blog posts. I am the queen of taking too many shots. ;)

This engagement session was so.much.FUN.

Rachel and I grew up together. She is younger than I, but we knew each other from school / church as kids. I had the pleasure of working with her at two previous weddings where she happened to be a bridesmaid - also where I had the chance to meet her beau, Eric.

Rachel and Eric remind me A LOT of my husband and I. They are total goofballs together and are buddies who just happen to be in love. We have very similar tastes and I can't even begin to tell you how pumped I was when Rachel contacted us about shooting their wedding and engagement session.

Rachel is a creative lady and I was so excited about this idea for their engagement session. Here is a little bit of the story from Rachel's blog:

As you may have guessed, Eric and I aren't a super "schmoopy" couple... our relationship is pretty much one big laugh fest, making stupid jokes and poking fun at each other. So we didn't really think a typical engagement shoot with lots of holding and caressing and gazing into each others' eyes in the middle of a wildflower patch was really "us" (hey, there is nothing wrong with those shoots. Personally, I think they're gorgeous for the right kind of couple!). I had the idea months and months ago to have a county-fair-themed engagement shoot, and thankfully Amber from the INCREDIBLE Look Here Photography (umm.... have you seen their work??? I'm so blessed to have the chance to work with them) was 100% on board for something different.

It's even more lucky that one of the nation's largest county fairs just happens to be the Great Darke County Fair, right in my hometown of Greenville, Ohio. So Eric and I traveled back to Ohio for the photo session before the last weekend of the fair in late August. I was nervous going in, because I'm pretty much the least photogenic person on the planet... I was completely afraid we'd shoot for hours and have no decent shots thanks to my derpiness in front of the camera. But Amber worked her magic and managed to get some great shots where I wasn't making the most awkward faces known to man (Eric, on the other hand, was calm... he's a natural).

The photos that follow are the result of nearly four hours of shooting (we probably had about 15 other poses/scenes and probably 400 more shots throughout the night that aren't pictured), some fantastic direction from Amber, a ridiculous amount of food (Fiske fries, cotton candy, kettle corn, Strawberry Lemonade Shake Up.... if you're from Darke County, you know we had to gets shots with all the perennial favorites), some of the nicest folks that let us pose (riding rides and playing games for FREE... never say carnies aren't kind people), a bunny, tip-toeing around cow patties, and about two dozen onlookers watching, cooing "Awwwwwww" every time Amber prompted us to "smooch." It was such a fun night, and I'm so happy my little pipe dream of a concept was brought to life so beautifully by such a talented photographer. 

Rachel & Eric - many thanks guys. We can't wait to see what the wedding day brings...

See you in Milwaukee!
Amber & Rob