Brooke + Justin Engaged – My Engagement Pictures by Katelyn James!

I am so excited to share my engagement pictures!! In late November, Justin and I met up with Katelyn James and her husband, Michael, at the Howard County Conservancy in Woodstock, MD. It was a cloudy day, but there was luckily no rain (I had been checking the weather every single day for the ten days leading up to the pictures!). It also wasn’t freezing cold like it had been the week before, so we were so lucky! We desperately wanted some colorful leaves for our pictures, and luckily Katelyn and Michael drove around a bit before our shoot started and found a beautiful red tree and I am so glad they did!

Justin and I had spent months trying to find the perfect location for our engagement photos. I have lived in Howard County my entire life, and Justin moved here five years ago, so it is a special area to us. We both really wanted mountains in our pictures, but that just isn’t much of a possibility here in Howard County. So the weekend before our pictures, Justin and I drove around the a variety of locations I had collection from friends, family, and photography pals. When I was at a presentation by David Hobby he mentioned a collection of photographs he and a number of other local photographers had done at the Howard County Conservancy, so that was on my list. When I asked my mom for ideas, she seconded the Conservancy and reminded me that I had been there years before. My mother used to write for the Baltimore Sun, and one of her stories – a strawberry festival – took place at the Conservancy. I was 15 at the time, and my sister and I both went with her and had such a wonderful time. So last weekend, after driving to just a few of the places on our list, Justin and I arrived at the Conservancy – and as soon as we pulled up, I knew it was the right place. Justin and I walked around the preserve and just loved that there were lots of tall fields, a cute stone wall, gorgeous old trees, beautiful red berries, and this great old barn.

When Justin and I met Katelyn and Michael for the pictures, I was so nervous. I am such a perfectionist, and I am super awkward in front of the camera. I don’t know why! I would much, much rather take pictures than be in them. But Katelyn spent some time coaching us on poses and making us feel more comfortable, which helped so much! My mom came to help us with our dogs (we knew they had to be in a few pictures – they mean the world to us!), so my mom and Michael managed the dogs and spent some time chatting, which was really cute.

Justin and I had a great time at our engagement session. Katelyn and Michael are both so sweet and fun to be around, and it was really meaningful for Justin and I start celebrating this exciting time in our life! I am so excited to share my favorites from our engagement session with Katelyn James! Thank you, Katelyn!

Some of our absolute favorite pictures are these ones on the couch with our beloved dogs :)

Our wonderful dog, Cara :)
I’m so glad we had the chance to use this couch for the pictures!  This couch was my great-great Grandmother’s, so it is really special to our family.






Our sweet girl, Emily :) She was a little nervous!
We loved the red berries!







I really wanted one laying on this quilt!  My mom got this quilt from a fellow photographer and I just love it.  As we were heading to our next stop, I remembered that I had wanted a picture laying down on the quilt, and Katelyn created these two beautiful pictures.  They are some of my favorites!




Can you tell I love polka dots?  I am obsessed!

I don’t know what happened to my hair here, but I still like these ones with the blue barn!

My mom really wanted me to wear this purple sweater for some of the pictures.  I love it with the red tree!