Jordana and John first began their love story when John was employed at Custer State Park, so it only makes sense that they would want their engagement session to take place at the beautiful Sylvan Lake. We have been planning this bride and groom’s engagement session for months now and I’ve been looking forward to it for so long! Meeting these two in real life was a dream come true. They’re seriously so sweet and we couldn’t stop laughing with them from behind the camera.

The Black Hills

When we first arrived, the beauty of the Black Hills took our breath away! You see, my husband and I live on the east side of the state which is mostly flat with lots of prairie grass, rolling hills, and cornfields. The western side of South Dakota is completely the opposite. Forests, hills, crystal clear lakes, and babbling brooks are around every turn. Even though we visit the Black Hills several times each year, it seems more and more beautiful each time we visit!

Custer State Park

I think you could be at Custer State Park all day and not even see it all. One of my favorite parts is the donkeys that come up to your car and like to put their face inside your car begging for a treat. We didn’t even get to them this time though. We spent most of our time at Sylvan Lake and by the Needles Highway, which is exactly where Jordana and John’s engagement pictures took place.

Because we are natural light photographers, we schedule our sessions for the best light, which is that golden hour right before sunset. We first pulled into the park, and the sky was getting kind of cloudy already. We checked the forecast before we lost service (a common occurrence out in the Black Hills!) and it said the rain was supposed to hold off until after our session. We started off with some gorgeous portraits of Jordana and John right on the shores of Sylvan Lake. No rain yet! We walked around to the other side of the lake and started climbing some of the granite peaks. It took one strike of lightning to chase us right back into our cars. The rain was starting right in the middle of their session! We drove to the Needles Highway where the rain was a bit lighter and took some pictures of the amazing scenery there. It wasn’t long before the sky was clear and we got some of the most gorgeous sunny glowy engagement pictures ever. Trust me, you are going to want to scroll through this entire engagement session and just go to cloud nine when you see them all! 🙂