Atlanta And BeyondAmanda
Summerlin
Photography
Atlanta & beyondest. 2009

Heather and David: Engagement Session at Amicalola Falls

engagement session amicalola falls.jpg

Dear Rand McNally, please label all the state highways on the map, ’cause if the state of Georgia thought it was important enough to give it a number and put up a sign beside the road, it’s probably going somewhere. Just sayin’.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 2.jpg

Have you guys seen the super moon yet? It’s only going to be around for one more night and then you have to wait another couple of decades to see it again, so make a point to take a look. I highly recommend viewing it just as it rises or sets, cause that’s when it’s most amazing.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 3.jpg

Yesterday, while I was hunting for the highway that Amicalola Falls is on to meet this gorgeous couple to make their engagement portraits, I had the pleasure of watching the super moon set in the mountains of north Georgia. It was simply gorgeous, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t find a good spot to pull over and take a photo.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 4.jpg

So are these guys adorable or what? What’s even better is that they are just as cool as they are adorable. This is Heather and David, and they’re getting married in June. I know they look pretty young, but they told me they’ve been dating for seven years now, so I’m guessing they met in kindergarten… nah, just kidding. They started dating in high school, and they got engaged almost a year ago.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 9.jpg

We met at Amicalola Falls just after sunrise. Heather’s family has deep ties to the area. Her great great (great?) grandparents lived there before the land was taken to make the park. Amicalola Falls, in case you didn’t know, is the tallest waterfall in Georgia, and the hiking trail that winds past the falls leads to Springer Mountain and the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, also known as the What The Heck Was I Thinking Trail, or to budget conscious hikers, a great place to pick up a bunch of free discarded backpacking gear in the early spring.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 17.jpg

So, since we were there, we thought we’d walk down the steps and make a few photos at the falls. And getting down to the falls was not really that big a deal, since we drove to the top.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 16.jpg

Getting back up was another story. David took the stairs three and four at a time from the looks of it, not even getting winded. Heather took pity on me and pretended that it was harder for her so that I wouldn’t look like such a weenie. In the meantime, we kept getting passed by octogenarians jogging UP the steps. Sick people.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 15.jpg

As we got to know each other a little better, Heather and David opened up and started goofing around and I could tell that there a lot of love and happiness between these two, and lots of teasing and laughing.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 11.jpg

Their scavenger hunt stories about Christmas and birthday presents were especially fun. After all, there’s no fun for the gift giver in just simply handing over a present. A person needs to earn a gift to really appreciate it.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 10.jpg

Besides, everyone knows that the anticipation is the best part.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 13.jpg

Did I mention how cool these two are? Cause they really are. Heather is also one brave young lady. She told me that she was planning to teach art to elementary kids. She’s going to do this despite her fear of snot (am I allowed to talk about this here?).

Me, “David lean your head down a little so Heather can kiss you on the nose.” Heather, “WHY?” Me, “Um, ’cause it’ll be cute? Is there a problem?” Heather, “SNOT comes out of there!” Me, “My bad. David, give her a kiss on the top of the head.”

engagement portrait amicalola falls 18.jpg

But, like I said, Heather is brave. Not only is she brave, she’s tough as nails too. And I really admire that. By the time we were wrapping up the shoot, the park was getting a little crowded. It was getting harder to shoot around the cars and people, but there were a couple more shots we really wanted to get.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 1.jpg

Take a look at this next photo. These guys are sitting in the middle of a mountain stream. There’s no camera trickery here, they are really in the middle of the stream. Because you can’t exactly stick your toes in the stream from there, I’ll tell you that the water in that stream is probably about forty-five degrees. And so are those rocks too. Plus the air temp is still less than sixty at this point. Who volunteered to take her boots off and cross barefoot to the center of the stream to have her picture made? Heather did, that’s who. And it’s an awesome photo too. Thank you both very much for being so darn cool.

engagement portrait dawsonville ga.jpg

Not only did she walk twenty feet to the middle of a frigid mountain creek to make an amazing photo, but she walked out of that creek and was still smiling and made this photo next.

engagement portrait amicalola falls 5.jpg

Not bad for a day at the park.

engagement portrait amicalola falls.jpg

Thank you very much Heather and David for a very fun morning. It was great fun getting to know you and I look forward to spending more time with you.

Amanda Summerlin
Contact Me

 

Let's make art together.

Contact me now so we can talk about how amazing you are. Let's explore where love meets art together.

Submit

You're a human! Yay! Your email is on it's way!Are you sure you're not a spam-bot? Error submitting form, please try again.
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER IN Atlanta, GEORGIa | SERVING GEORGIA AND THE SOUTHEAST

 

AVAILABLE anywhere

 

inclusive atlanta wedding photography since 2009

 

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY

BIPOC INCLUSIVe

black lives matter

all bodies ARE beautiful

all humans celebrated here

(also very fond of dogs)

(and cats)