I met Sam and Gerald at Starved Rock for their engagement session, which was not only the perfect halfway point between our locations of Chicago and Central Illinois, but also a great excuse to spend a fall day roaming the park while snapping some photos. It was an incredibly chilly morning, which made me feel for them a bit as we started their session amidst shivers and seeing their breaths in the air.

Luckily, we stopped noticing the cold as much as we walked and talked, and we happened to be the only ones there once we made it to the canyon. Even though I’ve been to and photographed at Starved Rock many times before their session, something about my time there with Gerald and Sam felt special in a different way. The air was crisp and the canyon was quiet, and we all three often caught ourselves looking around in a bit of awe as the pleasant reminder of how beautiful the land can be not far from home. Gerald turned to me at one point as the three of us had been silently admiring the view, and laughed as he said, “you don’t happen to be ordained, do you?” and I totally understood what he meant. He looked at Sam in a way that made it clear that this statement was actually quite sincere — in a way the showed how much he can’t wait to marry this girl, and it was equally clear how giddy and lucky they both still feel to have each other.