Listen. There’s absolutely a time and place for classic, posed-to-perfection summer engagement photos. 

This is not that time.

Here— here— is for beers-in-hand, cooler-in-tow, and sparklers-crackling-under-a-hazy-summer-sky engagement photos (try saying that twice).

The kind of gallery that smells like sunscreen, tastes like saltwater, and could slot straight into The Summer I Turned Pretty—minus the painfully awkward line delivery. Think less “tilt your chin half an inch to the left ” and more “here’s a cooler, a beach, and a mildly-unhinged prompt—go make it yours.”

This Minnesota beach night with Clare and Ethan was part date night, part nostalgia trip, and all cinematic. (That is what you meant when you said documentary-style summer engagement photos, right? Right.)

If you’ve ever wondered why my couples’ galleries feel like a story, this is your backstage pass. Here’s what makes a summer engagement session actually tell a story, how we pulled it off for Clare and Ethan, and why you absolutely should, too. 

The All-American Engagement Session We Planned On A Minnesota Beach

Sorry not sorry but… storytelling engagement sessions don’t start with some else’s gallery slapped on your mood board. They start with a scene. 

Picture it: classic American couple sneaks out for a little beach night on the Fourth of July. 

A cooler of your favorite beers (obviously). Sparklers wedged in the back pocket of your cutoffs and zero plans to be anywhere else. Just you, him, two lawn chairs, and a little mischief. 

That was the assignment for Clare and Ethan. And they understood it.

We packed a cooler (shout out to poor Ethan for carrying this heavy-ass thing down the stairs), staked our claim in the sand, and let the gallery shape itself. 

And by “let it shape itself” I mean, setting the scene literally became part of the narrative: them kicking it in their chairs, Ethan popping the cap off Clare’s beer, and her grinning at him post-swig. 

It’s everything that makes them them, and I’m catching it from every angle. 

Wide shots that anchor them in the moment. Close-ups of the little gestures that feel like fingerprints. And maybe my favorite frame of the entire gallery: him blurry, her tack-sharp mid-sip, hair catching the breeze like it’s auditioning for the role of a lifetime. (Thank you, thank you. I’m here all summer). 

What you don’t see is the full-blown conversation happening between cheerses—the banter that keeps them loose, the easy rhythm that makes the photos feel easy.

I mean… why fake the enjoy-the-day-together vibe when you can just… actually enjoy the day together (Seriously. Why??)

How Movement Turns Summer Engagement Photos Into Cinema

You don’t get big main character energy by standing still. Full stop.

It’s in the way your hand trails up his arm mid-laugh. The sudden sprint into the water just because you feel like it (and maaaybe the beer went down a little too easy). The hug that turns into a spin that turns into hands in the hair that turns into “um… what photographer?”

That movement? That legit is the magic. It’s what makes your summer engagement photos feel alive instead of staged.

That’s why I tell my couples, “Pretend that I’m a director, and you’re the stars.” Because newsflash: you are.

You don’t have to walk slow or freeze mid-step (let’s leave that little misconception at the door). My camera shutter is fast, my prompts are loose, and when it comes to movement? More is more.  

My favorite frames of Clare and Ethan are pure motion: him kicking back in the chair like summer royalty, her running up to hug him, love on him, sit on him. (She moves fast. I move faster.) 

So, when it’s your turn? Be all over your person. Run, spin, dance like an idiot, laugh too loud. Honestly… do whatever. 

Life’s too short for vibe-less photos. And you two? You’re the whole vibe.

Why Loose Prompts Make Your Engagement Photos Feel Effortless

Can someone please tell me when ‘documentary-style’ became code for ‘figure out what to do on your own?’ 

I get the question a lot: “So you’re more stealthy, quiet lurker (in a not weird way)… does that mean we’re gonna have to think of all the things to do on our own?” 

No. Just… no. 

But I also won’t give you 200 directions and shoot AT you (absolutely not). What you get instead is a loose prompt you can make entirely your own.

“Run your hands through his hair and pull him in for a kiss” might be a deep, cinematic kiss for one couple and a giggly, nose-bump moment for another. Both are perfect, because both are theirs.

No love language is the same. Part of my job is spotting yours. 

Like the way Ethan loops his fingers through Clare’s belt loop. Or how she plays with his hair and pushes him on the chest just so. Those are the little habits that belong to only them.

And when I asked her if she gives him that cute little look a lot, Ethan didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah she does that aaaall the time.”

That’s how I get the storytelling of you: stepping back, watching for the micro-moments you do without thinking—the ones that drive each other crazy in the best way—and catching them before they slip past.

Props, But Make Them Playful

Sparklers are a b*tch to light. 

Ethan, however, was fully committed to his new title of Sparkler King. “I got this,” he said. And he really did. We had zero clue what we were doing but he crushed it.

Because now there’s this epic close-up living in their gallery and their walls: them sitting on the beach,  sparkler in her hand, him looking at her like that’s just his default setting and me quietly drowning in the feels.

And that brings to my final point: you don’t have to bring props to your session to tell a story— but they sure help. 

They give you something to focus on besides blinding awareness of the camera pointed at your face. Something to do with your hands. Something to bond over, laugh over, swoon over (ummm, hellooooo, Sparkler King!).  

For Ethan and Clare, their props turned their session into a laid-back rager. Each one added texture to their story and felt natural for them.

When we were packing up Clare literally downed her beer. Just— “bottoms up” — and somehow it was the cutest, most her thing ever. 

(I got the shot. Amateur hour? Not here.)

We ended on the boardwalk and leaned full-tilt into summer romance: hats to steal, hands to hold, and a speaker queued up with their favorite road trip songs.

When I asked them to imagine they’d been in the car for 12 hours, slightly delirious, and their song came on? They went for it. (Exhibit A for how a good prompt can be taken and run with… sometimes literally.)

It was cozy. It was chaotic. Basically every romance movie montage you’ve ever loved—minus the bad soundtrack and questionable acting—and exactly why I’ll always fight for engagement photos that feel like this.

Why Choose a Storytelling Engagement Session Over the Classic Stand-and-Smile

Clare and Ethan’s all-American beach night had it all: the haze in the air, the cooler runs, the sparkler chaos, and a whole lot of running barefoot into the water just because.

It was cinematic, unposed, and entirely theirs.

I want that for you— a gallery with summer engagement photos that smell like sunshine, sound like your laugh, and taste suspicously like your favorite beer. 

So if you’re ready to skip the “stand here and smile but not like that” Minnesota engagement session and make something that actually tells the story of the right-now version of you. Let’s plan your scene.

I’ll bring the prompts, the angles, and maybe even the sparklers (Sparkler King not included. BYO royal.).