Engagement Portraits at TCF Bank Stadium
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of creating some of Sam and Taylor’s engagement portraits at TCF Bank Stadium. This was my first time visiting TCF Bank Stadium. I have to say that it is an impressive sports facility, both inside and out.
Sam and Taylor on the field at TCF Bank Stadium.
You might be asking, why TCF Bank Stadium? Well, that’s where Sam and Taylor met for the first time! Sam and Taylor both played tenor sax in the University of Minnesota Marching Band. They met when Taylor was a freshman and Sam was a sophomore, at one of the freshman orientations on the field, right at the 50-yard line! Cool.
We actually began their engagement portraits at Northrop Memorial Auditorium. Sam’s mom, Carla, was along as their wardrobe assistant (she carried some of the stuff around). Little did they know, but I had brought Lightning McQueen along as my lighting sidekick. Lightning McQueen also can carry lots of other stuff and still do lighting. So Lightning McQueen was also a portable closet for their engagement session.
Just Lightning, doing his job.
Sam and Taylor in the fall colors.
We had a specific time that we were granted to use the stadium. It was right when the marching band had finished their practice and before soccer practice on the field. So, we walked the several blocks over to the stadium. On the way, we made a photo stop along the way at one of the unique buildings on the U of M campus.
Creating Their Engagement Portraits at TCF Bank Stadium
Upon arrival, Sam and Taylor changed clothes and then we made our way to the field using the tunnel system inside the stadium. All of the way to the field, marching band members who were now exiting, were greeting our two alumni as we passed them. It was a mini-reunion of sorts.
Once we got onto the field, we got to work quickly as we were told that we only had 30 minutes of field time. I created some fun images with their saxophones, tossing a football, and some other fun poses too.
Sam and Taylor, face to face on the 50-yard line where they met!
I’m pretty sure we were there a bit longer than 30 minutes, but it turned out, it wasn’t a big deal. In fact, we were actually locked in! As we tried to leave, the door that we entered the stadium from was locked. Thankfully, Sam and Taylor know the lay of the land and we eventually found a door that wasn’t locked!
The Setting Sun
The U of M campus was buzzing that evening as the Lynx were playing game five of the WNBA finals at Williams Arena. It was starting to get dark and we hadn’t really gotten many images with any fall colors yet. So while we were walking, I was trying to find something that might work. We found this spot, while not too much fall color was there, was quite pretty none the less.
Sam and Taylor at one of the pretty locations at the U of M campus.
Our last engagement picture stops were several blocks away. By now, the sun had completely set and it was getting fairly dark out. The spot overlooking downtown Minneapolis turned out very pretty with what was left of the sunset behind the city.
Sunset over Minneapolis.
Moments after that, we created their final engagement photos on a nearby bridge, those were created basically in the dark. They turned out pretty decent considering it was so dark that my camera could hardly lock focus at times!
Sam and Taylor will be getting married in January 2019 at Spirit of Hope United Methodist in Golden Valley, MN, with a reception, dinner, and dance at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove, MN.
Thank you for reading our blog post and have a great one! – M&J