A Laid-Back Pictured Rocks Engagement Session at Sable Falls

When you think about Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I’m sure the first thing that comes to mind is the beautiful arches, cliffs, and turquoise water. I mean, you can’t go to Pictured Rocks without seeing that view. However, for Maddie and Trevor’s Pictured Rocks engagement session, we wandered around the lakeshore forests, chased a waterfall, and of course hung around the beach on Lake Superior. If you are planning your own engagement session at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I have some insider tips that will be helpful to know before your own session! 

The Beauty of Documentary Style Engagement Photography 

There are engagement sessions where we show up, take the photos, and head home. And then there are engagement sessions where halfway through we’ve stopped caring what time it is because we found another spot we need to explore. Maddie and Trevor’s Pictured Rocks engagement session was very much the second kind.

We met up at Sable Falls in Grand Marais earlier this Summer where we were met with sunny skies, warm weather, just enough breeze coming off Lake Superior… and, because this is the Upper Peninsula, bugs that also wanted to be included in the session.

If you stalked any of my other Michigan Location Guides, you already know that this is very on brand for Michigan, especially in the U.P. 

A documentary style engagement session was the perfect approach to documenting them, because Maddie and Trevor wanted something relaxed, adventurous, and centered around being outside together. So that’s exactly what we did! 

From High School to a Pictured Rocks Engagement Session

Maddie and Trevor actually knew each other back in high school, but their story didn’t really end there. They eventually reconnected through work, and now here we were years later wandering around Pictured Rocks taking their engagement photos. Life is weird and cute like that.

Once we started exploring, it became very obvious, very quickly that these two did not need me manufacturing any moments for them. Their relationship already has so much playfulness built into it. They were constantly teasing, laughing at each other, and messing around while we walked through the forest and along the shoreline.

Instead of trying to interrupt that and turn every few feet into another “photo spot,” I mostly just let them do their thing.

We Went Exploring at Sable Falls

For their session, we headed to Sable Falls near Grand Marais, where the trail winds through the woods, past the waterfall, and eventually toward the Lake Superior shoreline. 

What I loved so much about this session was that we actually gave ourselves time to experience it. We stopped at the falls, wandered around the forest for a bit, and found spots we hadn’t necessarily planned on using beforehand.

There were plenty of moments where nobody was actively trying to create a photograph at all, and I freaking love that.

One of my favorite things about photographing couples somewhere like Pictured Rocks is that the location gives us something to do. You aren’t standing in an empty field wondering what the hell to do with your hands while I yell prompts at you from twenty feet away. Instead, the experience compliments the photos, giving you an opportunity to not pay attention to the camera at all. 

6 Things to Know Before Planning Your Own Pictured Rocks Engagement Session

The Best Photo Ideas at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

If you’re searching for Pictured Rocks photo ideas, my recommendation is to start with what you actually want to experience while you’re there.

1. Hiking
2. Rock Hunting
3. Hanging out by Lake Superior 
4. Galvanting around the cliffs
5. Kayaking
6. Chasing a waterfall or two
7. Picnic on the beach

Want Your Own Upper Peninsula Adventure?

If the idea of spending your engagement session exploring somewhere ridiculously beautiful, laughing with your person, and maybe getting attacked by a few mosquitoes sounds significantly better than an hour of stiff posing…

As a Michigan and Upper Peninsula photographer, I want your photos to feel like a memory first and a photoshoot second. We’ll choose somewhere that fits you, leave room for whatever happens once we’re there, and I’ll step in with direction when you need it without making the entire experience feel staged. Pictured Rocks just happens to be a VERY good place to do exactly that. Get in touch here.