Downtown Stillwater Winter Engagement Session | Kira & Mike

Oh my goodness, Kira and Mike!! These two are a blast to be around, and it SHOWS in their engagement photos! We had a beautiful sunny day for their session back in December, and their fun and goofy spirit brightened up the place even more.

I’m always looking for colorful locations, and those can be hard to find in the winter, so I’ve grown to love shooting in Downtown Stillwater this time of year! The historic buildings bring so much warmth, texture, and variety and give us endless opportunities to interact with the environment instead of just standing in front of it. Plus, I’m a huge sucker for string lights and they are ALL OVER Stillwater! I told Kira and Mike to be prepared to stop for a photo at any moment because there’s truly another great spot around every corner.

It’s not every day you get to shoot engagement photos for a friend of ten years! Kira and I grew up in the same church and I have great memories of birthday parties, sleepovers, and just generally being weirdos in middle school together—filming goofy videos of our stuffed animals and making up dances in the back yard. She was also one of my very first “models” when I started photography ten years ago! I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I loved creating with my camera, so I told her and two of our other friends to dress up and come over to my house one day in May so we could take photos with the trees in bloom. That spring shoot became an annual tradition and ended up teaching me so many of the skills that have since become the foundation of my work. Whenever I look back on those photos, I just beam thinking about how far we’ve all come, and I can’t believe I get to shoot her wedding now!! Our eighth grade selves would be so proud. 🥲

The love Kira and Mike share is joyful and relaxed—you can tell they feel at home with each other. If the engagement session was this good, their wedding in September is going to be one for the books! 🤩