Sean and I found this super-awesome location through sheer persistence. I happened to come across this photo of a very old barn someone had posted on Flickr and was determined to find it and use it for a shoot. With no luck on my own, Sean stepped in and used his military surveillance training, Google Earth and some old PDF records of the town to get an exact location of this rustic homestead and barn… yes, we really went to that much effort.

One thing I love about our bride, Amanda, is I knew she’d totally go for it! Heck, she trusted me to take the bulk of her bride and groom photos in an alleyway at dusk on her wedding day and it turned out great. I remembered her telling me at the end of her wedding night that she was so happy with me, she was going to let me choose any location I wanted for the trash the dress session she had coming up.

I’ll admit, I felt a bit of pressure to come up with something super-cool for her, especially still being somewhat new to the area, but I’d say this place certainly fit the bill!

The only drawback to the barn was that I had to drag poor Amanda out at 7 a.m. on a freezing cold day in late November for the best light. Sean had his money on her rushing herself and her numb little fingers back off to the warmth of her car after a short 30 minutes, but she hung like a TROOPER for almost a full two hours!

Just when I thought Amanda couldn’t get any cooler — literally and figuratively — she surprised me by squeezing through a serious gate in her wedding dress to get into the nearby homestead with us. Boy am I ever glad she did — those pictures ended up being some of my favorites of the day! By the way, how ADORABLE is she in these doorstep pictures?

A million thanks to my husband and the lovely bride Amanda for braving the cold, breaking and entering, and bringing the fun!