their port huron, michigan engagement session

Port Huron isn’t the first place most people think of for engagement photos in Michigan, but it should be. Emma and Caleb’s session started at a garden a mile down the road from our second location at Fort Gratiot, and ended at a private beach house with their dog, Myles, running laps around both of them. Three stops, good light, two people who clearly love being around each other. That’s most of what you need for Michigan engagement photos that actually look like the couple, not just the location.

meet emma & caleb

Emma and Caleb met at the University of Dayton, in a coding class they both hated. They became close friends fast and never really stopped. Now they’re UD alumni with one dog, Myles, between them. Their first date was dinner at Carver’s, followed by a friend’s backyard “prom” the spring after their real senior prom got canceled. Looking back, they’re not sure if it was cute or ridiculous. Probably both. That same mix, a little goofy, completely themselves is what made their Port Huron, Michigan engagement session work.

the proposal: a hike outside boulder, colorado

Their engagement has that same easy, unplanned quality. Caleb proposed thirty minutes into a hike outside Boulder, Colorado, at a lake framed by mountains, while they were visiting a friend who’d moved out west after graduation. Emma had gone ring shopping with him twice already and still had no idea it was coming. Their friend asked to borrow the camera that morning, claiming she wanted to learn how to use it. She’d actually been recruited to document the whole thing, and neither of them caught on until it was happening.

a fort gratiot engagement session to start

We started at a garden boardwalk a few miles away…green, a little overgrown, easy to walk through without a plan. That’s usually where the best Michigan engagement pictures happen: nobody’s thinking about where to stand. We are just enjoying nature.

We then headed over to the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse aka the oldest lighthouse in Michigan. A Fort Gratiot engagement session gives you real history and open water in the same frame, which is hard to find anywhere else in the state, and it’s exactly the type of location that makes Michigan engagement photos feel specific instead of generic. Emma and Caleb spent most of it laughing and enjoying that water and sand instead of posing.

beach engagement photos in michigan, myles included

The last stop was a private beach house Emma and Caleb spent their time at with her grandparents. Beach engagement photos in Michigan don’t need a dramatic sunset to work, and this one didn’t get one…in fact we had clouds and high winds but what made it special? Their dog Myles running back and forth between them. That’s usually when I get the best shots.

port huron and other michigan engagement photo locations

If you’re weighing Michigan engagement photo locations, Port Huron deserves a spot on the list. It also works if you’ve been searching for a Michigan engagement photographer, since it’s close enough to make the drive worth it and different enough that your photos won’t look like everyone else’s from the same five spots.

begin your michigan engagement photos

If you want engagement photos in Michigan on their own, or you’re planning a full wedding with me somewhere between Charleston and the Michigan coast, I’d love to hear from you. Begin your experience, and let’s figure out what your Michigan engagement photos could look like.

✨ Inquire about your Michigan wedding here → Begin Your Experience