Since moving to Richmond, (and honestly, before that as well) we’ve wanted to photograph west of Charlottesville, in the Shenandoah National Park, specifically a Raven’s Roost Engagement session. We’ve been through the park a few times.  Each time, we’ve been hoping that we’d book a couple that was interested in making the drive out there. Enter sweet Sara & Chris! We first met these guys for coffee locally at Stir Crazy Cafe. They are getting married at The Barn at Edgewood.

We photographed at Edgewood before and we love it so much, we are already looking forward to Sara & Chris’ wedding there next year, which we know will be amazing! Anyways, back to these two sweet people! Sara & Chris live relatively close to Charlottesville and wanted to have their engagement session with some mountain views around, so what a perfect couple to take to Shenandoah for a Raven’s Roost Engagement.

Raven’s Roost Overlook

We had been recommended Raven’s Roost by many people as the place to go. When we got there, we knew why. Talk about a beautiful backdrop, more space than other lookouts, and on an overcast day, that worked perfectly! Of course we weren’t the only people there enjoying the views.  There were people having their own family photo session, and even a full wedding party getting their photos done! We initially met at the lookout and took some photos.  Then, ultimately decided to take a short drive back to another park office area.  After, we planned to go back to the lookout, and hopefully get parking the second time around.

Shenandoah National Park

The park office we stopped at was a perfect first location, we got the fall leaves, some of our favorite sitting photos of all time in an open field (that was until we went back to the lookout), and Sara & Chris were absolute naturals, and were so adorable interacting with each other! Their smiles speak for themselves. More than once I was screaming loudly out of sheer joy surrounded by strangers, who looked at us like we were crazy! But when you look at these photos you will know why I got so excited!

We spent half of our time at each location. When we did go back to Raven’s Roost, it had cleared a little bit. Of course, we had more sessions going on then. But that didn’t stop us from getting to every single spot we hoped to get to! Sara had changed into a really cute dress.  However, being on the side of a cliff, it’s more than just a little breezy. But both Sara & Chris were troopers, pushing through the brisk wind. Their photos show it was all worth it! We ended their session below the parking area at Raven’s Roost. There, we got a little more space to spread out and capture a few more of this stunning couple!

Congrats Sara & Chris, we hope you enjoyed yourselves, and we CAN’T WAIT for next summer!!

Other engagement sessions:

Engagement – sunflower field 

Engagement – Lansdowne