Some of our best trips have been those that were thought of and planned in a couple weeks or less, and this was a prime example...It was early September 2018, and we were in the beginning stages of planning our wedding! It was still over a year away, but we had already been engaged for six months and still had yet to schedule our engagement photos! Hence, we decided it was high time to choose our photographer.
Erin did some searching (on Instagram of course) and found @rachelnoelphoto, and she loved what she saw. Since Rachel lives in Michigan, we set up a Facetime appointment so we could get to know her a little and talk specifics. Easy, right? Well, us being us, we were having a cleaning Sunday at the house, Erin was planning and prepping dinner, we took the dog for a walk and were feeling pretty darn proud of ourselves - that is until Erin checked her email. We had totally forgotten our appointment. At that point, we had to come to terms with the fact that Rachel was definitely going to fire us as clients before we were even hired. How do you bounce back from such a poor first impression?
Luckily for us, Rachel is about as easygoing and forgiving as they come. We apologized profusely and she agreed to reschedule, same time next week. We set an absurd number of reminders on both our phones to make absolutely sure we did not miss this appointment. Obviously, the next Sunday, within the first minute of the conversation, we were certain that we wanted Rachel as our engagement and wedding photographer. Let me tell you, this girl is exactly the kind of person you'd want taking your photograph; she's goofy, has an ever-present, contagious smile, and takes amazing pictures.
Later, we started discussing the specifics of our engagement shoot. We were living in Columbus, Ohio at the time, so it was clear that some miles would have to be logged, by us, by Rachel or both. Erin and I contemplated places we thought would be good for a September photo shoot, and at some point, Erin mentioned to Rachel that it is probably gorgeous up in Michigan this time of year (and really, it's gorgeous all year, go visit Michigan people!). Rachel replied that it definitely is (duh), and that there was a place she'd always wanted to shoot but had never gotten the chance to do so: Silver Lake State Park. In reality, it was more of an off-hand comment than a suggestion, as she probably thought it unlikely that we would make the near-six-hour drive...obviously, she didn't quite know us well enough, yet! We looked into it, and - as you can see from the photos - it looked gorgeous, so we got back to her a few days later and set up a date.
Per Rachel, pictures would be during golden hour around sunset, so staying the night would be the only option which, let's be honest, we would have probably done anyway. We don't need much of an excuse to go camping. So, we shook off the dust from our camping gear and packed up the car, with our dog Max in the backseat, his undisputed favorite spot. This was my first trip to Michigan, and sadly, the many forests along the way, yet scenic, were not quite yet ablaze with the colors of autumn. Rather, those trees catching the most rays were just starting to carry a tinge of yellow, hinting at the explosion of hues coming in the next few weeks. The upside? The weather was still right in the sweet spot: mid 70s during the day and low 50s at night.
As afternoon just began to transition to early evening, we cruised into the park. Since the shoot was at sunset, it would be dark when we returned to camp, so we wanted to get the tent assembled ahead of time. Our site was fantastic: the shore was only steps away and the dunes towered over the opposite shore of the lake in the distance. That's right, I said dunes...as in sand dunes! Sand dunes are what Silver Lake State Park is known for and why we unanimously agreed we should do our shoot here. After we parked and looked out over the water at the golden dunes silhouetted against the sky, it really became difficult to contain our excitement.
There is always a good amount of dirt and sweat involved in establishing camp, so we cleaned ourselves up after were finished in order to be ready for our close-up. Rachel suggested we have a drink to loosen up - let's be real, this was 90% for my benefit, Erin and Rachel were in their comfort zones - and you don't have to tell us twice to pop a bottle of champagne, so pop we did. Once the bottle was good and drained, it was time to climb up onto the dunes...and when I say climb, I don't mean like climbing a flight of stairs. Getting up to the dunes is a full-on, full-body workout. Another thing to note: unless you make a habit of drinking half a bottle of bubbly before you go do your daily workouts, I would not recommend doing so before climbing onto 50-or-so-foot sand dunes.
After I took about 15 minutes to recover (which the ladies were enjoying far too much), I was able to stand up and actually take stock of my surroundings. It was as if we just stepped through a portal onto a different continent. Up here, it was silent, seemingly devoid of life apart from the occasional tree or mosquito, and man...was it breathtaking. To top it all off, we had an absolutely flawless evening for a photo shoot! Don't worry, I'll include lots of photos here, because nothing I can write can do it any sort of justice. Once the professional was finished with her work, I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of my own to capture the landscape: I think you'll be able to tell pretty easily whose photos are whose.
We bade goodbye to Rachel and to the setting sun as it made its familiar journey below the horizon. Suffice it to say we were quite pleased with our engagement photo experience. As darkness continued to settle in, we made our way back to the campsite (a 5-minute drive, more-or-less), stopping for firewood along the way. Inevitably, the dummy who packed the car, who here shall remain nameless, always forgets to pack at least one thing. On this night, it just so happened to be a very important one thing: a lighter. Now, we do have steel and flint in our camping supplies, but if you've ever tried using this method in the dark...on an empty stomach...with not much dry kindling in sight, then you'll know how smoothly that went. Thankfully, just like seemingly every time we go camping, we had very helpful and cheerful neighbors that lent us their lighter and a whole extra box of firewood. And so, after much delay and few curse words from yours truly, we were finally munching on our steak 'n' beans with roasted potatoes and peppers. Oh and red wine, because why not, and we needed some painkiller after running around the dunes.
Despite it being a bright, near-full moon, there were plenty of stars visible in the clear Michigan sky. Silver Lake was so still on this particular night, you could actually see the stars reflected on the surface of the water. If you ask me, these are the ideal nights for sleeping in a tent, when it's crisp enough to zip the two sleeping bags together into one big burrito, throw some blankets on top and saw some logs. Note: Max does not enjoy being in the burrito, so he gets his own pile of blankets. Possibly my favorite moment of any camping trip, though, is waking up early, a chill still hanging in the air, and making coffee. You can't beat it, and this Michigan air was some of the cleanest and crispest I had ever experienced: it seemed to almost detoxify your airways it was so clean. I stood on the lakeshore with my steaming coffee, and as the sun rose behind me, the east-facing dunes lit up against the double blue of the lake below and the sky above.
Erin and Max prefer their beauty sleep, so it wasn't until they awoke - one bright-eyed, one bushy-tailed - that we got started on breakfast. We have a gas-powered griddle that we love to do breakfast on, and it makes clean-up a breeze. We did a fry-up of sausage, eggs and leftover potatoes...talk about perfect fuel for returning to explore the dunes in the daylight. However, like mom always said, you've gotta put in the work before you get to go have fun. If we wanted to maximize our time out on the dunes, we'd have to go ahead and pack up camp ahead of time. That's okay, though, really the tear-down is not so bad and goes quicker than set-up does. At last, once we re-ascended the slopes of the dunes, it was a totally new landscape in the full sunlight. We could see the faint remnants of our footprints from the night before that the wind had all but erased. Determined to get the best view of all our surroundings, we climbed to the peaks of the dunes. Most of the area was criss-crossed by a very impressive dirtbike and dunebuggy course. But the highlight of our bird's-eye view had to be the sun reflecting off Silver Lake to the east, and the Caribbean-blue waters of Lake Michigan to the west, with mountains of sand being the only thing separating the two, and us at the very top. Even though we were having a blast running around the sand like little kids, we were dog-tired and ready to head home to our bed. The town of Silver Lake is a one-stoplight sort of town and adorable to boot. We wanted to stop at one of the mom-n-pop restaurants on the way out of town (we were starving), but it seems most everything is closed on Mondays, at least during this time of year.
Call it fate or divine intervention but...life is funny sometimes. How do you go from searching for cute parks around town to driving six hours? How does a one-hour photo shoot turn into a mini-vacation that we'll never forget? I chose to contrast this lesson with the Nice lesson from last week because they represented two legendary travel experiences that couldn't have come into existence any more differently. We spent months meticulously planning our itinerary for backpacking in Europe while our Silver Lake trip came together in mere weeks. It just goes to show that by surrounding yourself with outstanding people (and getting more than a little lucky), your next big adventure could materialize almost out of thin air.
In the end, Erin and I have Rachel to thank for this trip. Yes, she suggested we shoot here, but more importantly, she kept our appointment even after we were so rude and forgot. If Rachel decided, "hey, my time is really valuable," and didn't reschedule our appointment, Erin and I probably would've never heard of Silver Lake State Park and we definitely would not be as happy with whoever took our engagement photos. Thank you, Rachel, for giving us a second chance and for taking such perfect pictures! And thank you Silver Lake, we'll be back soon!
I know in Lesson One, I stated that all photos would be taken by me or by Erin and, for the most part, would be unedited...but Rachel makes us look like superheroes, so we'll make an exception for this lesson. If you haven't read Lesson One yet, it gives you a good background on my vision for this project...go check it out! We arrived at Silver Lake State Park on September 23, 2018 and departed on September 24. If you like the pictures here, there's tons more in the gallery for our Silver Lake visit, and on Rachel's Instagram @rachelnoelphoto. Any questions about the trip or specific locations mentioned or pictured? Visit Office Hours! My door is always open.
Comments