Emma and Sam chose to do their engagement photos at their family property in Calera, Alabama — the same property they’re planning on building a home on, and raising their kids on someday. It was SO cool exploring the area with them with that knowledge! We started in one of the prettiest fields I’ve ever been to (just look at that sunlight!), spent some time splashing in the creek, and wrapped it all up under the crepe myrtles in Sam’s parents yard. Here are some of my favorite moments from their session!

• Getting chased across the river by the neighbor’s tiny white Chihuahua
• Emma’s favorite tree! It’s the big one in the middle of the field (pictured below) and kinda made me feel like we were in an African savannah.
• Driving ALL over the property (and getting a break in the AC lol. Engagement sessions are no joke in the summer here in Alabama, even around sunset when it’s cooling down!)
• Shaking the crepe myrtles and having purple fall down all around us. I am not native to Alabama —I grew up a military kid, and lived in Gadsden/Rainbow City area with my husband from 2022-2025 before we permanently settled in Seattle. I have loved loved loved the flowering trees that paint the south all summer long, and they promised promised his mom would be okay with us using her trees for their engagements.

I loved this session for a lot of reasons (the it’s such an iconic field for engagement photos, for starters!) but I always use photos from it as an example of a really lovely summer engagement photo color palette with just white and tan. It’s all neutrals — but it works SO WELL and isn’t boring at all. Emma’s dress does some serious heavy lifting to make their outfits so dynamic: the lace and sweetheart neckline and puffy sleeves and scalloping on the bottom are so feminine and romantic. But Sam has a great example of a summer engagement photo outfit for guys, too: he chose a shirt in a similar color to Emma’s white dress, neutral pants, and then added leather shoes and a leather belt. It works so well (especially with the green field!) and is one of my favorite color combos for outdoor summer engagement photos. I have a bunch of other summer photo color scheme ideas on this blog post, as well!

Although I’m primarily a Seattle engagement photographer, I lived in Huntsville and Gadsden, Alabama for several years and still have family and friends I visit there regularly. If this looks like exactly the kind of field engagement session you’d like to do, definitely don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via my contact form! Washington friends, I have plenty of field engagement photo locations I can send you too. And you can also learn more about engagement sessions here!

Can’t wait to get in touch

Love, Sarah