Karley & Jimmy | Springfield, IL Centennial Park at Sunrise and Papo's Cafe Engagement Photographer

The late winter weather tried as hard as it could to ruin Karley and Jimmy’s engagement session. We had finally found an available date for their crazy busy schedules to make their session work and of course an 80% chance of rain popped up. I quickly got ahold of them and instead, we decided to beat mother nature and schedule a sunrise session a couple Saturdays ago. Now, sunrise sessions can be very tricky. For one, everyone is only half awake and secondly, the best light is at the beginning of the session rather than towards the end making it tough to open up immediately with a camera in your face.

Karley and Jimmy KILLED IT. Not only was it just shy of 7am, but the wind chill was also in the teens. These two opened up immediately, trusting me fully and allowing me to get to know them and capture them in their intimate state. I loved capturing Karley and Jimmy cuddling each other and really enjoying the moments of being together for their engagement photos.

Come to find out, these two are intense cross-fitters, it is something they truly enjoy together. And luckily cross-fit has trained them that early mornings are normal, so waking up early was a breeze! We also joked that we were training them in the cold for their New Years Eve wedding because most likely we will get very similar temps again on their big day!

After freezing their butts off for some amazing sunrise photos (which eeeek! I just can’t wait to share!) we headed over to Papo’s Cafe for some coffee and pastries to warm up! The staff was so inviting and allowed us to use their naturally lit and beautifully decorated front room. It was the perfect backdrop especially since drinking coffee and engaging in conversations is a large part of Karley and Jimmy’s relationship together.

I then convinced them to step outside for one more location down the street as the morning was just beginning and we still had plenty of good light. I truly enjoyed my time getting to know Karley and Jimmy and it just makes me even more excited for their wedding this year! I am so excited to share more!