Hounds with Heart!!!  High school sweet hearts transition from a football player-cheerleader couple to married physician and nurse…  Here is their fun, athletic engagement session:

Cary and Lauren reached out to me looking for vibrant photography that was creative and personalized to tell their unique story.  They were looking for an eclectic mix of photos the captured the sentimental setting of their high school football stadium as well as a couple more traditional portraits.
I opened with a photograph showing a more candid, fun shot of the two of them on the football field, here is a more traditional portrait of them sitting in the stands…
Lauren shared, “Before we started dating, Cary and I had the same lunch together in high school. I saw him walk across the cafeteria wearing his football jersey, looking so handsome. My friends saw me looking at him and made a casual comment about how cute he was.”

Cary continued the story, “I was so nervous to talk to Lauren!   At that time I really only identified Lauren as being the ‘pretty senior cheerleader.’  I didn’t even have my phone with me the day I got her phone number from her friend, so I typed it into my calculator as a number!”
He shared, “Thankfully, I went the whole day without erasing my calculator and texted her that evening for the first time. I was so nervous!”


Lauren continued, “I had my license before Cary, so I picked him up for our first date in my silver Volkswagon Beetle and crossed my fingers that he wouldn’t be too tall for my car!  Thankfully the rounded roof put that fear to rest and we headed to the movies, split a popcorn and watched “Blind Side” together.”
I love the warmth that the setting sun brings into this photo and the natural, joyful expressions of Lauren & Cary in this next photograph.  I think is shows their fun/goofy sides well:

While the high school football player-cheerleader romance into doctor-nurse wedding may sound a little too good to be true, in some ways it was.
Lauren & Cary faced a lot of challenges along the way.  I put a little visual distance between the couple for this next shot and I think their more serious expressions fit this part of their story well…

Lauren shared, “Being long distance was a huge part of our relationship. We started dating in high school where we had a few months of being in the same place, same school, but for years Cary’s football games were what brought us together and allowed us to see each other.”
Lauren graduated first and studied nursing at Penn State while Cary finished high school.  Then Cary graduated and was pre-med at Bucknell while playing college football and Lauren was finishing her clinicals at Penn State Hershey and taking her NCLEX.
When I asked them about what they like to do together in their free time they both admitted, “We don’t really have any, but we love to see each other whenever we can!”

When I asked about their personalities they both shared, “We are both very driven, ambitious and determined. We work diligently to achieve our goals, no matter what hardships we may face.”
Lauren explained, “Our career choices are demanding professions that require a lot of education, time spent studying, and work in the hospital. As a result, we understand that the end result of being a physician and nurse is worth the sacrifice of time spent apart now.”
They explained, “We let faith be the cornerstone of our relationship and do our best to live a love that is patient and kind.  Having each others love and support allows us to overcome anything.”

Cary shared, ““During my football games, I always loved looking up and seeing Lauren in the stands, sometimes still in her Penn State attire!”
He continued, “I really appreciate all the effort that she put in to coming to as many of my football games as she could in high school and in college, even if she was really busy with her studies. I am excited for the future for us to be on the same team!”
Here I photographed them from the stands at Veterans Stadium…

Lauren explained, ““Right now, a lot of that craziness has settled because we’re both graduated and can finally focus on our wedding and the excitement that surrounds planning our future together. Our engagement session was a really sincere, sweet reunion for us and the start to our new chapter.”
I knew that Lauren & Cary loved my creative photography approach and wanted to capture something truly unique for them.  I silhouetted Lauren & Cary against the blue sky, they almost look like icons, haha!

I wanted to do something special with them after dark.  Cary’s mom, who also helped me hold the same light during his senior portraits, helped me again for this shot ;).  I love the romantic, moonlit glow and the dramatic lines of the bleachers…
Lauren reminisced about her senior prom, ” I was so smitten with Cary from dinner and dancing to photos with friends… The DJ played a slow song and in the quiet moment of dancing with my head resting against his chest, I knew this was it. I had found my forever!”

Cary and Lauren, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved photographing these!!!  Thank you for the opportunity and I’m so excited to photograph your wedding at Hershey’s Historic Acres this fall!!!
If you haven’t seen enough of this adorable couple, check out Part I of their Engagement Photography here at the local reservoir.