Back in February of this year I took a workshop called “Abundance” in Columbus, Ohio.  The workshop was hosted by my friend, and amazing photographer, Ben Hartley of Style & Story Creative and Six Figure Photography.  This workshop changed everything for me.  It changed the way I approached our business, our pricing structure, customer relations, the way I shoot…everything.  I came out of this workshop inspired, motivated, and driven to make a positive impact on anyone that encountered our business.  Some of the central themes of the workshop were the power of gifts and what it means to really care and provide real value to your clients.  This workshop built the foundation for what would become one of the most memorable shoots we’ve done to date.

Not long after this workshop, Lacey and I were discussing our summer trip to the U.K. and Ireland.  During this discussion we made mention of how amazing it would be to have a couple for an engagement session at some point during the trip, preferably during our time on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.  From the beginning we had never considered trying to charge for this.  We just wanted to provide a gift to some deserving recipients and see what happened.  What followed literally could not have been better…

The first step was trying to locate a couple.  I asked our Isle of Skye Airbnb host, Mayanne of Minnie’s Rooms, if she knew of any local couples (preferably engaged) that would want to do some photos.  She took to the local Skye community Facebook group and within a couple of days she got back to us with an email address.  We later found out some Isle of Skye locals weren’t too happy that a couple of tourists were coming in and taking ‘business’ from local photographers, even though we weren’t charging but whatever haha.  Anyway, I sent an email to the address Mayanne had provided and waited.

A week passed and I began to think it wasn’t going to happen but then, a reply.  This reply resulted in a Skype session where we first “met” Nicola (Niki) and Andy.  From the word go, they seemed like “our people”.  Even over Skype the first meeting didn’t seem too awkward or forced.  Both were island tour guides and Niki was a photographer herself, specializing in nature/wildlife photography. After talking about them we were even more excited about the idea of this shoot yet we still had months to wait.

Fast forward to July.  We are on our trip, starting first in London, then onto Edinburgh and then Skye.  We weren’t 100% sure if the weather, or if Andy and Niki’s work schedules, would cooperate.  Somehow though, it all came together.  We met in a local pub on our first night on the Isle of Skye and right away it felt like we had known these two for a lifetime.  The connection was immediate and it was clear this was going to be great.  Following our dinner and a couple of beers we did a mini-session as a bit of an icebreaker.  These two were golden in front of the camera.  Their chemistry was obvious and their smiles infectious.  This mini-session gave plenty of momentum heading into our full day of shooting a couple of days later.

Our full shoot day began with Andy taking us out on his boat for the tour he gives daily. Check our Instagram feed for some video of Lacey driving the boat. The weather wasn’t great, but it was still gorgeous and we got to see a giant white-tailed eagle fetch a fish only feet from the boat.  He did this for us simply as a thank you for providing the photos.  Again, the power of gifts.  This simple gesture we put out there had become something much grander and we were just along for the ride.

Following the boat tour it was time to shoot.  Niki, being an Isle of Skye guide, knew the island as well as anyone.  We spent most of the day driving from spot to spot, hiking, getting stuck in knee-deep mud, shooting, and laughing.  Lots and lots of laughing.  This little gift has resulted in some of our favorite engagement shots we’ve ever done, but more than that….we now have two amazing people we love calling friends.  So Niki and Andy, we know we’ve said it before but it needs to be said again….THANK YOU!!  Your hospitality, your willingness to let us do our thing, and who you are as people made an impact on us we will never forget.  We can’t wait to see you guys again.  Let’s shoot for sooner rather than later, k?

Now….to the images!

The shot above quickly became one of our most “liked” of all-time.

This shot (above) has more “likes” on Instagram than anything else we’ve ever posted.

Niki solo vs Andy solo.  #BlueSteel

We love it when a couple just has fun.

This was a 2 second exposure, which isn’t easy to pull off, but Niki and Andy were like statues!