KIND WORDS FROM STORIED FOLK

“Mads is magic. Guiding us through every pose, smile, and laugh. All we had to do was show up and enjoy the day.” // Larkin

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If you aren’t humming Taylor Swift’s ‘Snow on the Beach’ as you’re settling in with your hot cocoa to read this cozy narrative detailing Larkin and Dallas’ destination engagement photos, then I’m sorry, but we need to reevaluate our (pending) friendship.

(Kidding. Although… while being an avid Swiftie isn’t a requirement of being in my world, it sure doesn’t hurt.)

A Romance Made for a North Shore Winter Adventure

While your status as a Swiftie might be up in the air, here’s one thing we can surely agree on: Larkin and Dallas are the journeying type. You can just see it in every frame, can’t you? 

In how cozy they look in each other’s company, despite the polar vortex chill. In how at ease they are, slipping and sliding across the shoreline for the adventure of it all. In how they braved the elements to capture their love in a place that captures the essence of it, to its core.

This love of theirs is going places, in every sense of the word: Black Beach in Silver Bay for their destination engagement. Italy for their destination wedding. And, of course, into forever, together. 

There is no doubt that their romance is one made for adventure. It only made sense that they would make their way up to Minnesota’s Black Beach for a destination engagement among the towering rock formations and snow-draped beach.

I was all too giddy to go with them.

Location Scouting on Black Beach in Silver Bay

Brett, Banks, and I traversed up to Black Beach from our home in the Twin Cities a few days early to scout locations for Larkin and Dallas’ alpine-coded adventure. (Coincidentally, this Kindred session also coincided with my birthday, and I mean, c’mon, is there any birthday gift for a Nordic girl like me quite like a weekend on the North Shore? I think not. Literally my favorite place on Earth.)

Location scouting for any shoot is crucial, but especially so for a destination engagement like this one, where we want every single shot to capture the magnitude of the landscape: a landscape that echoes the magnitude of Larkin and Dallas’ love for each other. 

Knowing exactly where we are going for the most idyllic vistas also happens to be helpful in a situation like this one, where one of Minnesota’s signature polar vortexes was hanging on for dear life and had us all thinking about the cozy cups of steaming coffee waiting for us on the other side of the shoot.

I was so excited to take my little family on our own adventure in the fresh snowfall the night before, to seek out the best backdrops for documenting Larkin and Dallas on Black Beach, among the vastness of the North Shore.

If You Want Adventure, Dress for Adventure

Larkin and Dallas arrived on Black Beach the next morning, dressed for the elements and in the suggested colors that I included in their Field Guide. (Suggested not just because I love them but because these colors work especially well with my editing style and propensity for photographs that are warm, cozy, and accentuated by natural light.)

Color aside, now’s as good a time as any to say this: If you want an adventure session, dress for adventure.

One of the reasons Larkin and Dallas were able to play so carefree among the ice and snow was because they were dressed for it. They didn’t have to worry about Larkin breaking her ankle on the ice because she was wearing heels or Dallas counting the minutes until it was over so he could go warm up in the car.

They were comfy and cozy in their natural fibers and texture-rich outfits, ready to be present in their destination engagement on the forested and winter-veiled shoreline.

Embracing the Out of the Ordinary on Black Beach

And complete and totally present they were.

Larkin nestling into the collar of Dallas’ coat. Dallas looking back over his shoulder to witness Larkin’s glee as he carried her on his back. The two of them throwing their hands up in the air in reckless abandon or reaching for each other’s hands at any given moment in time. The snow covering every inch of them by the time all was said and done.

Each and every frame is evidence of a love that both Larkin and Dallas are entirely at home in.

There’s no doubt looking at these photographs that Larkin and Dallas are the best of best friends. Sure, they’ve known each other since college, but they also know that in each other’s arms is exactly where they’re meant to be, settled in for life. 

It was the most magical masterpiece to both witness and capture the two of them embrace the out of the ordinary on Black Beach, to live out their love story in a landscape that may as well have been made for them, as time eroded it into the striking scene where their destination engagement session played out.