Worn out, yet triumphant runners with Chicago Marathon flags wrapped around their bodies hurried past us on Michigan Ave in all directions. Ellie’s voice on the phone said, “You’ll find us because we’re the only people not dressed like athletes!” Sure enough, we found each other :)

Me, carrying my blue stool that I like to stand on when shooting, and Ellie and Zach, looking like they’re about to go on a cute fall date. Guess we weren’t too hard to spot in the midst of the Chicago Marathon aftermath!

From the moment we met up with Ellie & Zach, we knew this would be a fun session. Despite the business of downtown Chicago, Ellie & Zach’s easy-going demeanors took everything in stride. Zach stood in one of our favorite couple’s weddings, Lauren & Adam Koenig from this summer. We love it when our past friends and clients help us meet more incredible people like Ellie & Zach!

We started our session in the heart of downtown, Millennium Park! As Chicago natives now, we rarely walk in unless we’re playing tourists with friends. It’s always a fun challenge to re-examine a location with new eyes for something like an engagement shoot!

While Steven parked the car, Ellie, Zach and I were on our own to watch our bags and equipment in the crowded Millennium Park. Ellie and Zach could seriously live double lives as secret agents for the FBI because they were like hawks watching our things. In fact, while they were posing by beautiful flowers, Steven arrived. I pointed him over to our stuff to guard our things, which were on the ground right next to Ellie & Zach.

Since they hadn’t met Steven yet, they immediately pinpointed him as a thief and LEAPT off the bench to stop him the moment he touched our bags. “Smart man,” Zach commented, “He went straight to pick up the equipment bag, which was all the expensive things!” Too funny.

I had my camera shooting from a few feet away and thought they saw a spider! Little did I know this was their vigilant defense against our thief, Steven. Here’s a shot of Ellie & Zach sprinting into “action.” This will definitely go down as one of my favorite photography memories of the year.

Ellie & Zach are a couple after our own hearts. They love board game nights playing strategy games like Settlers of Catan. They’re big fans of Crisp Korean fried chicken in Lakeview (aka the best fried chicken). Also, they love the peaceful nature in Lincoln Park.

For the second half of our session, we drove over to Lincoln Park and thankfully did not have to worry about thieving tourists here :)

Zach picked out Ellie’s ring all on his own and boy, did he do an incredible job. A pear shaped beauty on a simple gold band. He proposed with a sentimental George Harrison song and locked Ellie down forever.

Despite the cloudy day, we created our own sunset images by wandering through this pretty field.

Cheers to Ellie & Zach! We had the best time with you and are so excited for you two to tie the knot in Dallas!!