Technically, the first full day of fall is tomorrow, but the actual autumnal equinox occurred this evening...In any event, last year on this very day (September 22nd), Dan and I were in Santa Fe with our wedding photographer shooting our “First Day of Fall” engagement session.
I realize September may seem a bit late for us to have been taking engagement photos, but, if you think about it, September really did make perfect sense! Dan had only proposed three months earlier (in June) and, since we were having an autumn wedding, we wanted fall-themed engagement photos and therefore picked the first day of fall for the session. Why Santa Fe? Well, we chose Santa Fe for the shoot because we wanted to incorporate a bit of New Mexico’s southwestern charm and history into our photos and then tie it all back into the wedding, which, as many of you already know, was held high atop the Ortiz Mountains overlooking Santa Fe, the colonial capital of New Mexico.
Anyhoo, back to the story about the actual photo shoot. It was a gorgeous autumn day and, with the sound of rustling leaves and the scent of roasted green chiles rising into the air, we began our photo session on Canyon Road in Santa Fe’s art gallery district. If you have not yet been to Santa Fe or are simply unfamiliar with the area, Canyon Road is a one mile stretch of road just off Paseo de Peralta between Old Santa Fe Trail and East Palace. It follows the south side of the Santa Fe River and is home to over 100 art galleries and studios, as well as many beautiful flower and sculpture gardens. The architecture along Canyon Road is absolutely amazing and a large portion of the galleries and studios are housed in 250-year old adobe buildings. The photo to the upper right was taken just outside one of these galleries.
From there, we decided to head up into the mountains take in the fall foliage near Hyde Park. As expected, the colors were spectacular and we posed for several more photos amongst the trees. This, of course, is where the story becomes a bit more interesting. You see, during the middle of our shoot, a man wonders up to us and says "Hey, I'm with the Santa Fe New Mexican and they sent me up here to take photos of people enjoying the first day of fall. Would you mind if I took a couple photos of you for the paper?" Unbelievable! The man wrote down our names, took a few photos, and told us that we’d be featured in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper. Isn’t that crazy? To be completely honest, I was entirely skeptical of the man (and even asked for a business card before giving him our names), but, two days later, we learned that the long-haired stranger we had encountered on that Santa Fe mountainside was indeed telling us the truth! Our “First Day of Fall” engagement photo session made the paper and, although it seemed a little strange and awkward at first, it is, of course, WAY cool now!
Here are two other photos from our engagement session in Santa Fe.
