08/22/2026
so apparently you guys really liked our engagement photos. 🤍
the post i shared a couple days ago just blew past half a million views, which is honestly wild to me.
but there’s someone i want you to meet because there wouldn’t be those photos without her.
this is Jennifer, you can call her Jen!
you might have seen her before, or maybe you’ve seen these images before. and if you know me, you already know Jenn. she’s been woven into my life for years now, so honestly, it would be weird if she wasn’t showing up somewhere around here. 😂
Jenn is the photographer behind our engagement session, and she owns Jenn Smith Photography in Oklahoma. i edited a handful of my favorite images from our session and shared them because they’re our story, and because i love them. watching so many of you connect with them has been really freaking cool. ✨
but here’s the thing…
i didn’t meet Jenn through photography.
in 2022, we were complete strangers. i showed up at her house at 6 a.m., climbed into her car, and road-tripped with her to arizona for a women’s retreat.
just two strangers getting in a car together like that was a completely normal thing to do.
and somehow, we instantly clicked.
four years later, she’s one of my best friends. realistically, we were best friends before the end of the trip, if i’m being honest. she’s in Oklahoma, i’m in Indiana, and we’re both the kind of people who apparently cannot leave the house without approximately 900 pounds of camera gear. 🤣
we’re basically 12-year-old boys in adult bodies, nothing is tmi, and somehow she has this incredible ability to take people who were strangers and make them feel like family.
which is exactly why i wanted to share these.
because you’ve seen the work she created for me.
now i get to show you the woman behind the camera.
and since i spend so much of my own time photographing couples and the way they love each other, i figured it was about time i shared a little more of that side of my work with you, too.
these photos of Jenn and her man, Russ are from a while back, but i love them. i love the way they feel together, and i love getting to show you a completely different side of my work through two people who mean a lot to me.
and because i’m her bestie, i’m obviously going to tell you what i see.
these two just balance each other. Jenn brings the energy, the chaos, the fun… and he has this steady, grounded way about him that somehow makes it all work. they’re comfortable being completely themselves, they don’t need to put on a show, and there’s this loyalty and ease between them that you can feel when you’re around them.
and honestly, that’s what i love about photographing couples.
i want to see the stuff that makes two people them. the way they look at each other, the way they laugh, the chaos, the quiet, the weird little things that probably wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else but mean everything to them.
that’s the good stuff. 🤍
so, meet Jenn.
the photographer who took our engagement photos.
my long-distance bestie.
the stranger i got into a car with at 6 a.m. and somehow ended up calling family.
and now, the woman behind the camera that you guys just spent the last few days getting to know through her work.
i figured it was time you got to meet her, too. 🤍
also, a little photographer easter egg: the first two are my edits, and the last two are Jenn’s. all four are different images, but you get to see both of our editing styles side by side. because apparently being best friends and photographers means we have to compare edits too. 😂😜😘
