Wedding Anniversary Photos at Kingsland Bay State Park

One of my favorite things Hannah said afterward was:

“Julia’s questionnaire brought out the funny and truest part of our relationship. It took the edge off for the day of our photo shoot.”

That is a big part of why I ask so many questions before a session. I want to know what makes you laugh, what feels like you, what you are nervous about, and what you actually want from the experience. I do not want to meet you for the first time and then immediately start trying to manufacture a version of your relationship that photographs well.

Hannah and Amde celebrated 10 years of marriage this year! As an anniversary present to themselves, they chose to take anniversary photos at the location of their wedding— Kingsland Bay State Park in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. While there was no Ethiopian feast like there was at their wedding, we still had an absolute blast.

As I always do with new locations, I got there half an hour early to explore. I wandered around and noticed how many beautiful, serene places there were— the park has some beautiful old buildings and a rocky waterfront and some pleasantly mowed trails to explore.

I’ll often return from a session— grinning— and my partner will ask “did you make some new friends?”

This session was not only an instance of making new friends, but somehow also making new old friends. From the moment these two got out of their car, I felt like we were old pals just catching up after not seeing each other for years and years.

I think there is something really lovely about returning to a place that already holds so much history. We were not there to recreate their wedding day or pretend it was ten years ago again. They have had ten more years of being together, changing, building a life, and becoming more themselves.

We wandered around Kingsland Bay, talked, laughed, and stopped wherever something felt interesting. There was no need to rush through a list of “photo spots.” We had the old buildings, the lake, the trails, and plenty of room to just move around and see what happened.

Hannah also wrote:

“Sure, some things were posed, but the photos show my husband and me as our natural, goofy selves.”

Which is pretty much exactly what I am trying to do.

I do not think couples need to be completely unprompted for their photos to feel like them. Sometimes I will give you something to do, somewhere to move, or a little structure. Then I want to see what you do with it.

And I love anniversary sessions for this reason too. There are so many culturally designated moments when we are told it makes sense to have photos taken: engagement, wedding, babies, graduation, whatever. But you do not actually need one of those moments.

Ten years is certainly a good reason. So is five. Or seventeen. Or no round number at all. Take the damn photos 💖

Kingsland Bay State Park ended up being such a good fit for this session too. There is enough variety between the Lake Champlain shoreline, the old buildings, open space, and trails that we could keep moving without the whole session feeling like we were constantly relocating for the next backdrop.

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