Remember how I said the answer is always "yes?"

Well...it's the only thing that pushed me to say yes to my very first engagement photo session. Fear of hypocrisy can motivate you to do crazy things, let me tell you. I couldn't bear to have said those very words (much less have them published on the Internet) and not fully live up to them, so I nervously accepted my friend Lauren's request to take photos of her and her fiancee, Shawn.

We spent a frigid afternoon together in the throes of Wisconsin's longest winter ever and ended the shoot with beers and nachos at a local BBQ joint. It wasn't the perfect afternoon as far as engagement photo scenarios go (hello! it was 13 degrees), but it really didn't matter. Because I quickly learned photographing a couple isn't as much about you or your skills or your lack thereof, but more about being attentive. It was about finding those small details - the handholds, the side-glancing looks, the inside jokes - personal to Lauren + Shawn and trying my best to capture that love in the lens.

Lauren + Shawn's relationship is so natural - filled with laughter, snarky jokes and a respect for each other and good Wisconsin beer. Just how it should be. And hopefully my attentive watching skills and ever-evolving photography skills worked to do just that.