Waterfall adventures for these two fearless lovers…

One of my favorite places to hike is Tumbling Run, it’s in Central Pennsylvania near Chambersburg and Gettysburg.  I was introduced to this magical spot by friends in college and visit often, but this is the first time I’ve actually brought clients there.  I was waiting for the right time of year (after lots of rain) and the right couple (up for anything, including legit hiking, haha!).  I packed up my camera gear in a backpack and got ready for a trek!
Amber & Josh shared, “Tumbling Run is stunning, such a beautiful place to explore together!  We are hoping that our photos will show our love of the outdoors and bring out our distinct personalities, showing how we balance each other out.  We want photos that are unique, creative and us– Lisa’s greatest strength is that she is not just a photographer but an artist.”
The beginning of the trail is super tricky and a bit of a gamble– you can wade through the stream or cross on a log.  Amber and Josh chose the latter and I love how you can see them helping each other to cross, in the reflection, too, literally balancing each other out!

Amber shared, “Josh type B to my type A.  He helps me to relax and just enjoy the simple pleasures of life and is generally game for whatever.”
Josh shared, “Amber is fiercely independent, intelligent, fun and adventurous.”
I felt like this photo captured so many of those attributes in one shot!  I wanted to capture their movement through the forest and used some special camera settings to accomplish that.  Amber totally reminds me of Wonder Woman here!

Josh shared, “I decided to wear a bright blue dress shirt in the woods because on one of our first dates, Amber complimented my shirt.  I wore the same blue dress shirt to EVERY date after, haha!”

I was blown away by the blooming mountain laurel, which is the state flower of Pennsylvania.  Here I gave the lovebirds a little privacy and focused on the flower.

I placed Amber’s engagement ring among the mountain laurel for a photograph as well.  I love the texture and shape of the blossoms!

Amber shared, “The local plants and flowers provided us with a very natural  and beautiful backdrop for our engagement photo shoot.”
She continued, philosophically stating, “The waterfalls at Tumbling Run are not only stunning but are deeply metaphoric for the difficulties and triumphs of life and love.”

Josh explained a bit about their story, “Amber and I met about five years ago in Vermont.  I was at this block party with friends and saw a beautiful woman across the bonfire from me.  She was stunning, I couldn’t help but smile at her.”
Amber laughed, “Well I saw him grinning from ear to ear, and didn’t really know what to think.  It struck me as odd at first, haha, (like who is this weirdo?) but then we started talking and I actually liked him.

Josh continued, “I was totally enamored with her.  I wanted to see her again, but really had no way of reaching her.  Haaa I thought this shot illustrates that looking for each other part well…

He went on, “I knew she lived in the area and spent the night at my friend’s house in hopes of seeing her, as she had mentioned living right across the street but it didn’t happen.  I ended up enlisting the help of a couple of friends who lived in that neighborhood to get her number for me, and the rest is history.”

Amber and Josh were long distance for two years, as she finished up law school in Philadelphia.
Josh shared, “I didn’t really know if our relationship would last, but it did and we are both so thankful for meeting up at that block party and working through the long-distance relationship.  It was so worth it!”
I was hoping this might capture the long-distance connection and provide a creative perspective of these two holding hands…

Amber and Josh were such troopers in the woods, too!  We climbed over rocks and roots, through forests and ferns, along tumbling waterfalls throughout.
Amber continued with her philosophies after we found ourselves a bit lost, “Relationships are not straight paths. Sometimes you get lost in the woods. Life has many different paths, but if you’re lucky you’ll end up at a waterfall.”

Amber and Josh climbed out into the middle of a waterfall for this photo– I love how they are surrounded by water!
Amber continued on her philosophical note, “Josh and I have been together through the good, the bad and the ugly and really been each other’s support.  Much like water, a relationship must flow and adjust to the ever changing challenges of life.”

Amber shared, “I fell for Josh’s kindness, his firm convictions, his loyalty– he is trustworthy and great company.
Amber shared, “I love the color purple, and a friend of mine, actually one of the people that helped to set Josh and I up, bought this dress for me as a gift.  I thought it would be a nice choice to wear for our engagement photos, especially since purple will be one of our wedding colors.”
I love that she’s barefoot at this point in the hike and starting to really come out of her shell!

Amber shared, “Josh is more outgoing and free spirited and I’m more reserved for sure.”
Here he picked her up– I caught the reflection in the water as well…

Amber reminisced, “It’s funny, the day of the block party, I was kind of under the weather and I wasn’t going to go, but I had this intuition that just nudged me out the door.  I am so thankful for that moment and so happy with Josh in my life.  We are very fortunate to have found each other.”

Amber and Josh, thanks so much for entrusting me with your story and capturing this significant part of your life.  Thanks for being up for hiking up a waterfall of an unmarked trail with me.  I hope that these photos are just the sort of unique, creative, authentic photos that you were looking for and capture your love of nature and each other!  I’m super excited for your upcoming Liberty Mountain Resort wedding and also excited to hear what you think of this blog post!  Please feel free to comment below.  🙂