Why is it that the photos we take out of instinct always end up being the ones that make us cry?

I plastered this caption all over my Instagram after Mary and AJ’s engagement session, totally floored by what had unfolded. (There’s also a TikTok. Obviously.) 

The inspiration? A split-second, unplanned, unposed, and entirely-unnoticed-until-I-got-home moment:

Mary’s finger intertwined in AJ’s, mirroring the print on her Noah Kahan tote, with the lyrics from Everywhere, Everything etched below:

‘Til our fingers decompose.

A detail so small, yet so specific to them, that it felt like fate. 

It was the most perfect this-is-what-Noah-Kahan-writes-songs-for kind of moment, (some) thanks to me holding my shutter down a second too long because… why not.

And that’s exactly why cinematic photography works: when instinct takes the lead, movie magic happens. 

Which got me thinking: If this is the kind of photo couples are looking for a documentary-style engagement photographer, then we need to have a chat. Because what you really want is a cinematic engagement session.

Wait—What Even Is a Cinematic Engagement Session?

Documentary-style photography is a total buzzword right now. And I get it. Documentary sounds like everything couples as main character energy-filled Mary + AJ want: candid moments that don’t feel stiff or forced. Photos that are effortlessly authentic, emotionally unfiltered, and jaw-droppingly gorgeous. 

(In a word? My love language.)

But a lot of photographers wearing the label still choreograph every. single. photo. “Hold hands like this.” “Look at each other and laugh.” “BE AUTHENTIC.” (Okay, they may not actually yell this at you, but you get the idea). 

Couldn’t be me. A true documentary photographer is a fly on the wall, so inconspicuous, it’s like I’m not even there

I exist on the periphery, a camera-clad Casper capturing your love scene through cinematic engagement photos, as it unfolds. 

I LOVE shooting that way, but I also like to take it a step further…naturally.

Think photojournalist with the sensibility of a filmmaker. I’ve got the lighting locked in, the scene mapped out in my head, and your vision seared into my brain. My eye has clocked the reflective sidewalks that make city lights pop and pinned the textured walls that add oof to a shot.

But the emotion? The vibe? The subtle gestures that make you cry into your wine while scrolling through the gallery? That’s all you.

I might prompt you to whisper sweet nothings in your partner’s ear to make them laugh, but how you play off each other and react is what turns your photos into an extension of your legacy in all its goofy, sexy, and tender forms. 

Pulling all that out of you and catching it in cinematic engagement photos is what I do best. 

Rain-Soaked Nashville Wasn’t the Plan And That’s Why It Worked

We had exactly 45 minutes. It was raining. The sky was about fifty shades of meh grey. But Mary and AJ made it magic. They didn’t come into this shoot with a grand Pinterest-inspired vision or a lovey-dovey mold to fit into. Their biggest goal: Make Nashville look like NYC (hold the cheese). 

I was all in.

We got creative: slick city sidewalks, neon signs, and enough grittiness to give it that East Coast vibe. With our setting locked in, we threw caution to the wind and ran around like kids who just found out recess got extended. 

We ducked under awnings, dodged puddles, and avoided Printers Alley and Broadway like the plague, as only true Nashville-ians do. The rain soaked through Mary and AJ’s cute matching jackets, but they were too busy cracking each other up to notice. 

And then—the Tote Bag Moment. I’d already gotten the shot I wanted, but sheer instinct held the shutter down, anyway. Click. Click. Click.

Five or six frames. No big deal. Until there it was.

Mary’s hand wrapped around AJ’s finger exactly like the design on her tote bag. A tote bag printed with her favorite Noah Kahan lyrics— the artist she is OBSESSED with. Like, traveling-all-around-the-country-since-2018-to-see-him-play obsessed. 

DEAD. Decomposed. Done. 

I could have staged it. I could have gotten them to line up their fingers and hold perfectly still for twenty seconds (I would literally never). But the quiet, unintentional poetry of it all makes it so much better. Like the universe saying, “This one is on me.”  

This is exactly why I shoot the way I do. I’m not just snapping what’s in front of me. I set the scene for those perfectly unposed moments to reveal themselves and nudge my finger down onto the shutter to etch it in time.

Call it luck. Call it instinct. Whatever you want to call it, it only happens by leaving space for spontaneity—for you to feel the moment and meet it with your whole damn soul.

The Best Cinematic Photos Happen When You Stop Trying So Hard

Here’s the thing: Mary and AJ have been together forever. Long enough that they don’t second-guess how to act around each other. Long enough to know exactly what unhinged thing will get the other to totally lose it. Long enough that I barely had to prompt them to frolic with reckless abandon down the middle of The Arcade like two kids let loose without parental supervision. 

THAT’s how you get money shots worthy of Cannes. (Have you seen the black and white shot from above that I dropped, well… above?? I’ll wait.) 

People get caught up thinking cinematic engagement photos have to be this big production with multiple outfits, perfect weather, and dreamy locations. All we had was one outfit, 45 minutes, and a city we were trying to pretend wasn’t Nashville, and yet, we got it all.

Their gallery plays like the dream shot list for an NYC indie rom-com: Capital ‘C’ Cute matching jackets. Forehead-scrunching belly laughs. Crinkled noses and cheeky street-side kisses. The “Oh my God, my partner is so hot I must wrap my leg around them” moment (thank you, AJ).

And that is the essence of a cinematic engagement session. Nothing staged or forced, just real scenes, actually felt—the kind that linger long in your bones.

There are elements that a photographer can control—the lighting, the background—but the magic of a photo, the thing that allows it to truly tell a story, is raw emotion and reaction. 

I handle the logistics, so you can be spontaneous. I hold space for your quirks so you can fill it with everything that makes your love yours. And I take note of moments when all sense of performance is forgotten, and you let yourself be fully seen as you are, by each other. 

So, if you’re worried about how to “pose” for your engagement photos, here’s my advice: Don’t.

Show up. Run around. Be goofy. Feel it. I’ll take care of the rest.