Growing up in a small town, Cody & Ashley always knew each other, however they didn’t date until they moved away to college and returned home and ended up at a mutual friends party.
The proposal:
On Christmas morning 2018, Cody gave Ashley a note, which ended up being the first of a few notes that sent her on a scavenger hunt around the house. The last note had Ashley looking in the Christmas tree for a certain colored ornament. When she couldn’t find it, she turned around and Cody was down on his knee with the ring, which he had all along!
The best part of the entire engagement story (which is pretty epic!) is that Cody proposed to Ashley in the same house and same date that her step-dad proposed to her mother 24-years ago.
The engagement portraits:
Saturday morning I awoke to a dark sky and some raindrops. I was a bit nervous that the scheduled engagement portrait session would have to be rescheduled. As the day went on the sun slowly came out and dried up the rain. Andy, Tristan and I met Cody & Ashley at a private residence in Needville, owned by a friend of Ashley’s mother. Mojo, the horse greeted us at the gate (and later came down to see what we were up to). The sun was shining, the cows were grazing nearby a copses of oak trees. We started taking pictures under the oak trees and quickly had to fend off the hoard of caterpillars. It almost felt as if they were falling from the trees there were so many.
I was so excited how close the cows let us get and how Mojo, the horse, came right up to us insisting we pet him.
Check out some of the photos from the engagement portrait session below.
The basic way to look good in your images is to feel confident and to consciously think about your carriage (how you hold yourself). When you feel confident in your photos, you will look confident. As for your posture, pretend there is a string attached to the top of your head and someone above is pulling it up. Below, I will bread down some common body concerns for men and women.
This is fairly simple. If you want to accentuate your curves, you need to think about your spine as the “S” that it is. Push your chest out while pushing your butt out at the same time. You should really feel this in your lower back. You can angle your body slightly to the side of the camera to make sure the camera sees your curves. Never face the camera dead on if you want to accentuate your assets. Ladies, it’s also important to pop a knee in your photos. This will help to offset your angles and really accentuate your curves.
To broaden your shoulders, first square yourself with your wedding photographer. You are facing each other head on. Next, straighten your posture and (like in the arm section above) make sure your elbows are not touching anything. This pose also helps to slim your tummy situation.
I find myself sitting on my bed Wednesday evening typing this up on my iPad while Big Love plays in the background, and my cat (Rascal) beggs for attention and is a complete lovable pest. Luckily, I was able to Bluetooth my keyboard to it so at least I have something going for me. 
