Archive for the ‘Engagements’ Category

This was not your typical engagement session. When Sarah and Sam booked their wedding they mentioned that is was really important that their engagement session be at Cumberland Island. Sam’s family owns property in the north part of the island and the extended family spends a lot of time there. Sarah has been there many times since they started dating, and that is where Sam proposed over the 4th of July weekend. So of course this place is more than meaningful to them and it was a pleasure to be invited to photograph them there.

With Sarah going back to school in a few days and our calendar pretty filled up already, we were thrilled to find a weekend that worked for all… and then, a few days before, a tropical storm is forecasted to come straight towards the Georgia-Florida eastern seaboard… Oh-no! We spent so much time stalking the National Hurricane Center’s website those days!  But then the storm lost strength and dissipated… whew!

This was a really unique experience since Cumberland Island is a National Seashore, the only way to access it is by boat, and no cars –other than those of property owners and in limited quantities– are allowed. It was very fun to have Sam drive Rich and I up and down the island to scout the locations they wanted to use. There are no paved roads and the few existing roads are not only super narrow but extremely bumpy. Our first tour of the island was in an open jeep and I ended up covered in sand everywhere!…. but oh-how-fun!

We started on the beach in the southeastern part of the island where there is a large jetty formation. We went to the northern beach the following morning. No matter which part of the beach you go to, you will be amazed at how beautiful it is over there. So calm and quiet and with so much wild life everywhere!

Then we cut across over to the western side of the island towards The Dungeness ruins stopping by a cute little wooden walkway on our way there…

The Dungeness ruins are a wonderful place and host to several groups of the famous Cumberland Island wild horses.

This cute little calf was just adorable! But see how skinny he is? Not much good grass for them to eat, and they cannot be fed so that they remain wild. I was actually amazed at how calm they are around people in general. I expected them to get spooked much more easily but I guess they were hungry…. and are probably used to visitors coming by.

I LOVED Sarah’s hat! I thought it completed her look perfectly.                                                  

Not all the wild life is cute though, but there is a place for everyone in the island!                                                                  

How cool is the back of Sarah’s dress?!

Our next stop was Plum Orchard Mansion, Sarah’s favorite house in the island. The live oaks all over the island are gorgeous!

Our last stop for the day was the western marsh beach area. This is actually where they got engaged. We were hoping for one of the very famous sunsets there but it was a cloudy evening. I believe the place is just beautiful anyhow. And considering how lucky we got with the weather, we were all very happy regardless!

And this was the first day on the island. It was late, we were all tired and off we went to enjoy a delicious meal that Sarah and Sam cooked for us. After a nice evening in good company, we all trotted off to bed, since we planned on starting by sunrise the next day. So come back soon to see the rest of this gorgeous session.