Location, location, location!

We are so lucky in the Louisville area to have so many amazing locations for engagement sessions. We have a river, beautiful parks, a city skyline, hills, meadows, downtown sidewalks and quaint city squares. Whether you want a classic city look to your engagement portraits or a rustic outdoors style, Louisville has you covered! Today we’re sharing some thoughts on what makes a perfect engagement session location AND some of our favorite spots in Louisville.

As photographers, we have a checklist for a “good location”:

• Sun – we want to give you that “sunset glow” in your portraits. That means we need to see the Sun!
• Sky – we won’t pick a location deep in the forest- it’s beautiful to look at, but the heavy foliage can give a green cast to your skin color.
• Shade – if we’re shooting at any other time besides the hour before sunset, we want some kind of shade to help soften the harsh sunlight. Sometimes a single tree will be enough!
• Sentimental – we love when couples have a special attachment to a location. Is it somewhere you like to go on walks together? Where he proposed? Let us know!
• Parking – we don’t want to make you walk for miles! Sometimes we’ll make an exception to this for a REALLY beautiful location, but we try to find locations that are easily accessible.

Not every location will check each of these boxes, but we do try to hit the top 3 (sun, sky and shade)! We are always open to new ideas and love to explore with our couples!

Mount St. Francis, Indiana

Our first engagement session location is actually not in Louisville! Just 15 minutes from downtown and across the Ohio River is Mount St Francis. This Franciscan Monastery is also home to a nature sanctuary with trails, a lake and some of the most beautiful sunsets you can imagine. This is one of the most popular locations in Southern Indiana and you can imagine why. If you want a gorgeous autumn location, this is the place!

Cherokee Park | Louisville, KY

Another of our favorite engagement session locations is Cherokee Park in Louisville. Cherokee Park is HUGE and has so many different opportunities. The fall colors are always beautiful, most spots are easily accessible and it’s very central to most of our couples. The park benches and street lamps make it a little more of an upscale outdoor location than somewhere more rustic like Mount St Francis. It’s an incredibly versatile location, beautiful in every season!

Private Estates

Finally, we’ve had the privilege of shooting engagement sessions at our clients’ private estates. There is nothing we love more than a sunset engagement session at a Kentucky horse farm. No crowds, beautiful scenery and you can’t beat the parking. If you have a relative with a beautiful piece of land, don’t hesitate to suggest it as an engagement session location!!

There are so many local places for your engagement session and we’re always available to brainstorm new locations! If you want to learn more about engagement sessions and why we love them so much, check out our most recent blog here: The Engagement Session: Why?