Ghostly house boats, stray dogs, missing persons, our adventure is always something interesting. A pretty crazy morning considering it started at 3AM and is supposed to be about taking pictures with a sunrise.
Sunday, 3:30 AM. Alarm goes off, grunting and groaning commences. Husband playfully banters, “Why are we doing this again?”. I can’t lie, at the moment, with stars still shining, a confused dog eating when he should be sleeping, and a 2-hour drive west looming ahead of us, I have no legitimate answer to his question. I’m questioning my own ambition at this time.
But we hit the road with coffee in hand, I click play on the new Folklore album, and before we even realize, we are on our way, as happy as could be, filled with anticipation for our sunrise adventure with Wild Aisle Photography!
I met Erin owner and creator of Wild Aisle Photography a few months ago virtually, a connection made over Instagram. I have made countless numbers of connections over this platform, but Erin was the first “internet” person I took a leap of faith on driving hours to meet in person, my only former knowledge of her was communicated over email and social media interactions. I felt a little funny about it at first, and of course my husband is not a social media person, so he was really skeptical, but I knew after exchanging email convos that we had so much in common, and I could tell right off the bat she had a wonderful heart, and was seriously talented. It was someone I knew would not only become a collaborative friend, but a true, “real life” friend that loves adventures as much as we do. Ya know, just two like-minded gals united over the gram. What a millennial story if I ever did hear one, but truly, our social channels are there to help us connect in real life, what’s the benefit if we keep it all in the virtual realm? I could feel this thought resonated with Erin as well.
The morning was one for the books immediately. Seriously, anytime Breton and I go anywhere, it’s never just normal. Breton joked on the way there that maybe Erin had forgotten to set an alarm; we would arrive, and she would call saying she overslept. HAHA so funny. Just to be clear, SHE DID NOT FORGET ABOUT US OR OVERSLEEP AT ALL.
We soon realized that instead of being to New Buffalo Beach and Boat Ramp by 6 AM, it would actually be closer to 6:30. The sun began to peak out behind the vehicle and then we really felt like vagabonds- just racing the rising sun. We kept looking back at the sun as if we had some type of control. Upon realizing our time conformity, Erin shot us a text explaining the time change would affect her arrival as well.
Neither of us were going to get there before the sun did. That was that. A small oversight by each of us, but as adventure junkies, we all knew the risks we were taking, and adventures never go EXACTLY as planned, the fun is in the last-minute changes.
All was cool, and Breton and I pulled into the empty parking lot with the sun just starting to peak over the dunes. Perfect timing. What followed was a mishmash of events that I will try to sum up quickly. Sparring you the details.
So, we pull in and head for the beach to scout things out before Erin arrives. Basically we encounter a houseboat parked on shore, a dirty wet dog wandering the beach with his leash and collar dragging behind, a family who eventually gets the dog and then spends the next 45 minutes asking whose it is, then there’s another family looking for their missing friend, who they seem to be expecting to wash ashore any minute, he was apparently lost the night before while kayaking and they are now plastering the area with brochures, then there are two police officers, soon they have the dog, then their at the houseboat, then their walking the beach asking if we need two more picture models, all before like 8AM! WHAT IS HAPPENING, seriously so bizarre!
Meanwhile, Erin arrives, and we meet, saving hugs for later because pandemic and all, we grab our things and head to the beach. We convince Erin that there’s no need to pay for parking because we did not, and cause its Sunday, and because one of the Kiosks was not accessible, and we leave feeling great about our decision. Guess what, we both came back to find parking tickets on our windshields, we felt horrible we convinced poor Erin to abide by our lack of rules. But hey, we left with a souvenir right, maybe? No. Just always pay for the parking people.
The morning was spectacular, worth the silly ticket! The sun over the dunes was perfect, casting bright yellows and pinks, and making for the perfect shots between the tall beach grass on the dunes. Because we opted for the city beach it was much quieter and left us lots of space to roam. The beach also overlooks the New Buffalo Yacht Club and stunning pastel colored condos that line the Lake Michigan Shoreline. It’s just a picture-perfect little town.
Breton and I had not taken couples pictures since our wedding two years prior, and our engagement pictures were nearly a year and half before that, so we were pretty thrilled to get the chance to play along again. One thing we have found difficult is finding photographers that are willing to spend adventures with us and capture us in our natural element rather than styling shoots and posing us. Erin was a superstar at making sure what she was capturing was true to us.
Erin encouraged us to just walk the beach and be ourselves. It made it fun and lighthearted, and I think it truly made all the difference in the pictures. Erin’s expertise and brand identity lies in elopement style sessions, with an emphasis on romantic adventure. I find her work to be stunning because not only is she able to capture those dreamy adventure-esque couples shots, but the landscape captures that come through in the background are truly gorgeous! Her travel pictures are magazine worthy in my opinion. I’m also a sucker for close up intimate photos, and I knew right away she was not shy about getting us comfortable with being up close and sultry, and still capturing it in a way that was natural and didn’t feel invasive or awkward. Bottom line she is AMAZING!
We spent the next couple hours just roaming the beach, Breton and I talking, reminiscing, and just being silly together. Erin wandering behind in the background, quietly snapping away, and only giving us small amounts of guidance, always being sure to fully explain the idea before we took on the task. It was seriously one of the most chill, laid back, and fun photo experiences I have had. Sometimes couples shots are hard, because factoring in your partner adds a whole different set of comfort levels, emotions, and anxieties. But with Erin, that was not the case. She was totally into us doing our own thing and capturing those real time moments. We would recommend her to any couple looking for those incredible magazine worthy photos with an emphasis on stunning backdrops and landscapes. I cannot stress enough what an incredibly comfortable and talented photographer Erin is to work with. I even got into my bathing suit and jumped in the water by the end of the morning attempting to get romantic water shots. That’s how comfortable it is to be with Wild Aisle Photography.
We finished shooting, walked the beach, walked downtown and grabbed some incredible breakfast sandwiches from David’s Delicatessen and Coffee, no joke the BEST breakfast sandwiches and bagels I’ve ever had. It was pretty early so we couldn’t get into The Stray Dog which I LOVE, and most everything else was still closed since it was Sunday, but the walk is always so nice because New Buffalo is a truly gorgeous beach town. One of our favorites. I always feel like I’m in a movie when I’m there. We highly recommend.
We chatted, planned future adventures, gawked at our odd morning and eventually parted ways. Erin brought along an inflatable kayak and was interested in kayaking along the shoreline. How freaking cool is she!
We parted ways and headed for Warren Dunes State Park
Attempting to catch an annual deep dive in Lake Michigan before crowds arrived. We succeeded and were able to be headed home by 11! What an adventure.
The day motivated us to one, definitely schedule some more adventures with Erin and hopefully next time her husband, cause she is awesome, two, we are now more motivated than ever to carve out time for simple, silly, easy adventures, even if it means waking up with the stars, it was so much fun and only added to the experience.
Third and finally, we have found an incredible appreciation for photographers like Erin, who are not only down for almost anything, but are also authentically themselves and in being that way, have a knack and talent for pulling that out of their clients. That’s where the incredible pictures come from. That’s how you get magical captures. It’s all in the amount of love that’s behind the lens, not necessarily what you see when looking through it. And in trusting Erin with your most intimate moments, and most picturesque visions, there is no doubt, an abundance of love that she exudes, and it trust us, it shows.