A beautiful Black Hills Lakeside Engagement Session | Sydnie + Jaden | Kelsey Jade Photography | South Dakota Wedding Photographer

Sydnie & Jaden | Engaged!

Pactola Lake | Black Hills, South Dakota

Couples are my jam. When I rebranded this last year, I made the decision to focus mostly on our engagement sessions and weddings because that’s what comes most naturally to me. I also have the most experience posing couples these last twelve years and nearly 400 weddings later! But Sydnie and Jaden made my job so easy. It’s always my goal to capture the raw, natural beauty of the Black Hills. We live in such a breathtaking area, especially in the fall with our incredible golden light and fall colors. And this lakeside engagement session is a new favorite. As the sun began to dip below the horizon, it cast a warm, golden glow across the beautiful water of Pactola lake, creating one of my favorite settings for dreamy and ethereal photos. I especially love the film photos we were able to capture – film just has that beautiful, rich, and timeless allure. And film seems to be the best way to fully capture the blues of the lake and the light that makes the hills such a romantic setting,

Sydnie & Jaden have so much chemistry between them and these two are so full of joy. I’m beyond excited for their wedding next summer! It didn’t even feel like I had to work to pose them. I love including engagement sessions with my wedding collections because it gives me a chance to connect with my couples prior to their wedding, and then it feels like we’re old friends when I show up to capture magic on their wedding day. It’s always my goal to create genuine emotion in my images and having an engagement session prior to the wedding helps get us all more comfortable with one another. I also love those candid, raw moments and have been working to create more editorial images in my workflow. In my opinion, these types of photos are the ones that showcase the most authentic connection and powerful emotions. Here are just a handful of favorites from their fall engagement session using both film and digital. Enjoy!