I met Julia and Leo through another one of my '17 couples (hi Brit and Nick), which is something I always really love. Julia and I were trying to plan the perfect engagement session that coincided perfectly with location + weather (always tricky this time of year). We bounced ideas around for a few days, and then she and Leo came up with this amazing plan.

These two both have a strong Irish heritage, and decided to honor that with a shoot near their home in Tipperary Hill, Syracuse's old Irish neighborhood. The first stop on their list was the infamous upside down traffic light, which Leo in particular has an incredible direct tie to. His grandfather was one of the original Stone throwers, and their family name is immortalized in Stone Thrower's Park. I'm a reeeal sucker when it comes to local history, so this was so much fun to be a part of!

From there they took me to a gorgeous nearby arboretum that I didn't even know existed. The small park, where locals walk their dogs, was full of the most incredible fall colors, and still plenty of leaves left on the trees. It was stunning when the sun started to set, throwing golds and warm tones through the foliage. We got like two feet of snow a WEEK after I shot these (and I got the flu), so high-fives all around for how we nailed the timing.

This will probably be my last set until next year, which isn't so far away anymore. Ahhhhhhh. 2017 is shaping up to be wonderful, and I can't believe it, but it's almost completely booked already. I've never booked up so fast, and I'm particularly humbled because I decided to kill all my paid advertising this year and see what happened relying solely on referrals and word of mouth. Crazy, crazy, crazy. I'm beyond grateful.

Julia and Leo are on that schedule for 2017, and I can't wait to see these two again in August!