Silver Lake Sand Dunes Engagement IN WESTERN MICHIGAN

Brittany & Carlos

Brittany and Carlos were actually one of my first giveaway winners… EVER! I hosted this giveaway back in January of 2020 - before I even went into wedding photography full time. We originally had planned for their engagement session to be in the Spring/Summer before their wedding. As we all know, it was around that time that the pandemic hit us hard which caused a lot of couples to postpone their wedding/photoshoots. For Brittany and Carlos, they too had to push their session and wedding out further. In the meantime, so many life changes happened for them as well! They welcomed a beautiful baby into the world which further changed their wedding plans. What seemingly turned into a giveaway turned into a year long postponement up until September of 2021. We finally made it!

silver lake sand dunes engagement photos

We did their engagement session at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes located along Lake Michigan’s shoreline. You may have noticed that I love being able to come to the sand dunes and really is a hidden gem in my eye. While many people around the area know of the sand dunes, not many people outside the scope of MI do! You really get to escape into a different world and it’s just a nice break from the typical greenery you may see around here. If you couldn’t tell, I am a BIG fan of the sand dunes and really want to encourage more couples to step outside of their comfort zone and try something different. While the Sand Dunes may seem scary and intimidating, there are so many activities such as riding a dune buggy or even heading to the lake nearby! All I ask is that you invite me - LOL.

The outfits that they chose for their session perfectly matched the vibe that we were going for which I loved. The red dress was flowing so beautifully and was the right amount of “pop” against the sand in the background. I always recommend that if we’re going to the sand dunes to be prepared to get down and dirty, because that’s exactly what we did. I had Brittany and Carlos sit in the sand and really get comfortable and give off those “effortless” vibes, ya know? As the day got later, the sun came down. We played around more with direct light rather than the sun being behind them.

We even were able to squeeze in a quick outfit change! Just as a tip: always ask your photographer about outfit changes and if there is any time for them and how many! This can affect how long we are actually shooting and helps us a ton. Brittany and Carlos were just a beautiful couple to photograph and despite the struggles we had to get to this point, I am so glad that we finally got to make it work. The wait was SO worth it and I am so happy to have been there for them to be able to capture these beautiful moments… even if it was a year and a half later *wink*.

If you loved these Silver Lake Sand Dunes Engagement Photos, then you should check out this Silver Lake Sand Dunes Styled Elopement!

Photos By Gayle does more than just take photos of people. Rather, it is capturing moments of LOVE and HAPPINESS. Singing to the skies, dancing in a field, smiles that hurt because they’re so big. There is nothing else I would rather be doing than photographing these unique details that make you and your significant other a couple. If Mikenzie & Kelly's photoshoot puts a spark in you, you know where to click <——— right there!