I was so excited to meet with Rachel and Dylan at the Manassas Battlefield Park outside of Washington, DC for their sunrise engagement session! We had been planning their shoot for weeks — I was looking forward to finally meeting this sweet pair, along with their adorable pup, Lola.

Dylan grew up a military brat, living here and there throughout the country, but ultimately ending up in the Washington, DC region. Rachel was born and raised in New Jersey, but moved to  the district to attend nursing school at GW. They met while she was finishing up school and have been together ever since. This past holiday season, the two of them took a quick trip where Dylan asked Rachel to marry him!

When I was first chatting with Rachel, she told me they were a bit nervous about photos as Dylan never had them taken professionally. I assured her they would do great and I think you’ll see in the photos below that they exceeded any expectations! They were such naturals in front of the camera and totally up for any of my crazy ideas — including getting in freezing river water at the end of our shoot!

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Lola her own shout out! She is a four-year-old black lab who might just be one of the most well behaved dogs I’ve ever met… without being boring! Have you ever met one of those dogs who is a little too well behaved, to the point that they don’t even bother to play or care about being pet? Well, Miss Lola was the total opposite! She followed us wherever we went, listened to commands, and took the most beautiful photos… but also loved to chase her stick and, of course, soaked up my endless pets! She was a total dream pup who is welcome to be a stand in model dog for all my future sessions!