Katie + Matt’s Forest Engagement Photos in Oswego, NY

Katie and Matt, like me, have a special adoration for the woods. I felt so honored to take some forest engagement photos of them at the beautiful Rice Creek Field Station in Oswego, NY. They met at work in 2018, but didn’t start dating until 2020, right around when Covid hit. But instead of ruining their budding relationship, the pandemic actually forced them to create a fast and strong bond, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. It was during a trip to the Adirondacks, while staying in a cabin on the river, that Matt asked Katie to spend the rest of her life with him.

I kept their session light and fun, which was no problem with their easy-going personalities. We incorporated a lot of movement prompts to help ease any camera jitters and create the natural-feeling poses you see here.

While exploring the area, Matt found the tiniest little frog, and immediately got down on one knee to ”propose” to Katie with it before releasing it back to its home. I love that they chose to have forest engagement photos. Their wedding at New Park in Ithaca will include a ceremony in the woods, so this acted as the perfect prequel.

When we stumbled across some cool-looking tree mushrooms, they got so excited. Mushrooms are meaningful to them, and they’re even using them in their wedding decor. The only request they had for the entire session was a photo of their sun and moon rings, so I seized this as the perfect opportunity and backdrop.

We kept walking until we ended up at a stream of water in a small clearing in the woods. They popped open a bottle of champagne, then had a hearty cheers and a few large swigs to celebrate their engagement. These two were the absolute sweetest, and had so much fun together during the entire session. We took a few final photos, then I grabbed some stunning shots of Katie’s engagement ring with a backdrop of goldenrod.

I can’t wait for their wedding this October! It’s going to be such a magical woodland celebration!