Joel + Annie | Murphysboro Apple Festival Engagement Session

Oh gosh, where do I start with this blog post? There’s so much stuff to tell about these two. Joel and Annie are quite possibly the cutest couple that I’ve ever worked with. I knew from the very minute I got out of my car that these two were going to be a blast to work with. They make each other laugh and they way they interact is so casual but loving at the same time.

Murpysboro, Illinois is where Joel and Annie grew up. They live near the St. Louis area now but when they were discussing their engagement session ideas, they realized their session was booked the Friday evening of the Murphysboro Apple Festival. So we tossed the idea of doing part of their session at the fair and I’m so glad we did because it was so much fun! We started the session off at Joel’s family farm. It’s actually were he proposed to Annie, so it was special for the two of them. Chickens were roaming around everywhere and at one point Joel bet Annie that she wouldn’t be able to pick up a chicken. Well, it took me like .5 seconds to realize how competitive Annie is (I’m the same way) and she was determined by the end of our time at the farm that she would catch one. She actually got ahold of one but it jumped right away from her. It was absolutely hilarious and definitely a highlight of their evening. You’ll see that chicken below LOL.

We ended the evening at the Apple Festival and initially I thought it would be hard to shoot photos around a bunch of people. But everyone was so nice and would move out of the way for us. And the guy who was working one of the games was very helpful and let us use a toy for a prop and told us to take our time and get what we needed. That’s small town charm for you, folks. Seriously, everyone that evening was so nice and it was refreshing, considering how much drama is going on in the world these days. We need more love in the world today and that evening I was surrounded by not only great small town people, but Joel and Annie, who showed more love to each other during their session than some people show in a whole week.

I’m so glad that I got to finally meet these two and I cannot wait till their wedding day next year. I am off to a wedding rehearsal tonight were I’ll be a BRIDESMAID! That’s right… I get to be behind the camera tomorrow in one of my best friend’s wedding… and I’m pretty excited about it. I will be doing some portraits through the day but I have a second shooter to help me with the other stuff that I obviously cannot do. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.