Elizabeth & Kaitlin’s Salisbury Engagement Session with the Best Dog- Mango| Their Photographer Cried

Shannon Ritter
Mar 3
3 min read

This Salisbury engagement session was scheduled to take the couple's sweet pup, Mango for a walk in the park. Being comfortable in the location you choose will help your photos look natural. Couples should choose a place that is important or familiar to them. This helps create a relaxed environment to capture love in a relaxed, natural setting, and Elizabeth and Kaitlin’s session in Salisbury was the perfect example of that. Also, I can not go any further without talking about Mango's perfect manners, excitement about his family, and gentle spirit. She earned her wedding invite if you are asking me.

What made this session so special was how easygoing and natural Elizabeth and Kaitlin were together. They laughed, teased one another, and slipped into moments that didn’t need much direction at all. And yes, someone's shoe ended up in the stream. My photography style is focused on capturing those little in-between—smiles, playful looks, soft gestures—that tells the real story of a relationship.

Engagement sessions are about great photos! You will surely get plenty of those. You will also get the opportunity to get comfortable with my camera. I am not a micro manager of your nose position or anything else. One person usually feels apprehensive about photos and is really showing up to make the other person happy. When you two are together you should be authentically you and it is my belief that will never be awkward. So my job is to get you to laugh, hang and relax with each other. This allows the apprehensive person to realize that I am not going to micro manage you on your wedding day! Do some noses need to be positioned to appear smaller, sure. I know how to move my camera or have you follow my finger with your eyes to get that nose positioned just right. Your wedding day should and will not be me telling you what to do!

If I am not telling you what to do then what will I be doing. When I arrive I tell everyone in your group that I don't need you to do anything. You will likely feel me near you at some point in the day and I don't need you to move. Should I need something, I will put a huge smile on my face and ask you for what I need. Then pretty quickly everyone starts to ignore me which is just what I want. This allows me to frame your day and create photos that make you feel just like you did on your day.

Why did I cry at the end of this session? Well, you see I love desserts. I eat them when I am editing. I eat them at your wedding and really for any reason I make up. And my favorite sessions end with dessert! We walked back to our cars. I gave Mango a few more pets and then I saw a gift bag. She said, "When I looked at your website, it said that every session should start and end with a treat. So I got you cake for your birthday." They got me local dessert for my birthday to end our session. My eyes really filled with tears. As a small business owner, you create a website, make advertising goodies, and put yourself and your art out for the world to see. This was a moment of feeling seen and knowing that my work is noticed.