Miles smiles down at Adalyn as she laughs looking up at him, framed by a white ranch fence and a blurred oak tree in the background.

Weddings

Engagement Session at Texas A&M’s Hildebrand Equine Complex | Adalyn & Miles

The owner & lead photographer here at Aly Matei Photography. I proudly serve outgoing couples who value lively & emotive experiences.

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Adalyn and Miles came out to Texas A&M’s Hildebrand Equine Complex for their engagement session, and the property gave us exactly what I wanted for these two: long white ranch fences, horses grazing in the pasture, a huge old oak tree, and that late afternoon light that turns everything gold.

Adalyn and Miles laugh together while standing along a white ranch fence with horses grazing in the pasture behind them.

Adalyn wore a flowy white dress, simple and easy to move in, which mattered because we walked the fence line for a good chunk of the session and let the light do most of the work. Miles kept it classic in khakis and a white shirt, later trading it for a cream cowboy hat that fit the property perfectly. Hair and makeup came from Sunkissed and Made Up, and it held up through the heat and the wind, which anyone who has shot in Texas in the summer knows is not nothing.

Adalyn leans against the white ranch fence in a flowing white dress, a hay bale and tree line visible in the field behind her.
Adalyn and Miles share a kiss by the fence while three horses graze in the pasture behind them.

We started along the fence with the horses in the background, then moved to a stretch of tall grass under a massive oak tree where they sat down and just existed together for a few minutes. That’s usually where the best frames come from. No posing, just the two of them talking quietly while I stayed back with a longer lens.

Miles kisses Adalyn's cheek as she laughs, seated together in tall grass with her engagement ring and his watch visible on their clasped hands.

Adalyn and Miles sit together in tall grass beneath the sprawling oak tree, foreheads touching with eyes closed, in a black-and-white portrait.

Adalyn and Miles walk together through the tall grass near the oak tree, laughing at each other, captured in black and white.

Miles picked up his cowboy hat for the last stretch and we walked out into the open field, with the A&M water tower sitting on the horizon behind them. This is the shot I keep coming back to: the two of them mid-kiss, the field stretching out, campus in the distance. It’s a very Aggie way to start a wedding story.

Adalyn and Miles share a kiss in the middle of a wide-open pasture, the TAMU water tower visible in the hazy distance.
Adalyn and Miles run playfully across an open field toward the TAMU water tower on the horizon, shot in black and white.
Miles lifts Adalyn off her feet mid-laugh in a sunny open field during their engagement session.

We closed the session back at the fence for a few detail shots, the ring, the dress, one more kiss before the light dropped.

Black-and-white detail shot of Adalyn's clasped hands resting at her waist, showing her engagement ring, layered bracelets, and necklace as Miles holds her close.
Adalyn and Miles share a kiss on the lips while leaning against the white ranch fence, her clasped hands showing her engagement ring in front of her, with a soft-focus pasture behind them.

Adalyn and Miles are easy together. They didn’t need much direction to look like two people who like being around each other, which makes the whole session go faster and better. This one has extra weight because it’s not just an engagement session, it’s the start of their wedding story. They’re getting married later this year at The Arbor just outside Houston, and if this session is any indication, that day is going to be full of the same easy, golden feeling.

Congratulations, Adalyn and Miles. So glad I get to be part of this one.

A few more of my favorites from their day:

Adalyn and Miles stand together by the ranch fence with an open field and a distant hay bale behind them.
Adalyn and Miles walk hand in hand beside the ranch fence toward a large oak tree, photographed in black and white.
Adalyn looks off to the side with her hand in her hair as Miles gazes at her, both leaning near a white ranch fence with distant grazing animals visible in the pasture behind them.
Miles, wearing his white cowboy hat, leans close to Adalyn's forehead as she closes her eyes, the open field glowing softly behind them in golden light.
Adalyn and Miles stand face to face in an open field, sharing a quiet smile with the water tower visible far in the distance, in black and white.
Miles kisses Adalyn on the forehead while she looks toward the camera in this close-up engagement portrait.
A cropped detail shot shows Miles in a white guayabera shirt and khaki pants standing beside Adalyn in her long white spaghetti-strap dress, his arm around her shoulder, against a blurred green lawn.
Black and white close-up of Adalyn resting against Miles's chest under an oak tree, her engagement ring visible as he leans his head against her hair.
Color version of the same moment: Miles settles his cowboy hat into place in the foreground as Adalyn stands in the golden-lit open field behind him.
Adalyn laughs brightly at the camera while Miles nuzzles close to her forehead with his eyes closed, the two sitting together against a backdrop of blurred tall grass and a shadowed tree trunk.
Miles tips his cowboy hat as he holds Adalyn close in an open field, with the water tower faint on the horizon, shown in black and white.
A black-and-white close-up of Adalyn and Miles, her hand resting on his chest showing her engagement ring.
Miles, wearing a cream cowboy hat, stands with his arm around Adalyn near a large oak tree as she leans her head toward his shoulder, her hair blowing in the breeze, with an open pasture behind them.
Black and white shot of Miles adjusting his cowboy hat in the foreground while Adalyn waits in the open field behind him under the oak tree.
Adalyn and Miles lean against the white ranch fence laughing together, with grazing horses and a hay bale in the pasture behind them.
Adalyn and Miles hold hands beneath the oak tree, the white ranch fence and farmhouse softly blurred behind them as Miles carries his cowboy hat.
In a sunlit green pasture, Adalyn and Miles stand close together, Adalyn holding a straw cowboy hat in front of her as Miles rests his head against hers.
Black and white close-up portrait of Adalyn with windblown hair catching the light, an oak tree and white fence blurred behind her.
Adalyn and Miles lean in for a kiss against the white ranch fence, a lone horse grazing far in the background field.
In black and white, Miles gazes down smiling at Adalyn as she laughs, the white ranch fence and an oak tree softly blurred behind them.
Miles swings Adalyn up into a playful lift in an open pasture, captured in black and white.
Adalyn and Miles walk hand in hand through tall grass beneath the oak tree, glancing back over their shoulders at the camera.
Miles and Adalyn stand together at a white wooden ranch fence, both looking out over the open pasture as late-afternoon light spreads across the field behind them.
Miles kisses Adalyn's forehead in a close embrace beneath dappled oak-tree light, photographed in black and white.
Adalyn and Miles sit cheek-to-cheek in tall grass, looking directly at the camera in a quiet portrait moment.
Adalyn leans against a white ranch fence in a flowing white dress, her engagement ring visible as she clasps her hands, with a sunlit green field stretching behind her.
Adalyn and Miles share a close kiss, her engagement ring visible on her hand at his neck, with a horse grazing softly out of focus behind the white ranch fence.
Miles kisses Adalyn on the forehead as she laughs, both standing beneath a big oak tree in a sunlit pasture.
Miles kisses Adalyn's forehead as she laughs with her eyes closed, her hand resting on his chest, in an open sunlit field.
Adalyn and Miles kiss in an open Texas field, the water tower visible in the distance, captured in black and white.
Adalyn and Miles stand together beneath a sprawling oak tree with the white ranch fence and farmhouse behind them, Miles holding his cream cowboy hat at his side.
Adalyn and Miles share a kiss in profile beside a white ranch fence, a large oak tree softly blurred behind them in the open field.
Black and white photo of Miles kissing Adalyn's forehead as she smiles with her eyes closed, his cowboy hat on and the open field blurred behind them.
Adalyn and Miles stand embracing in a wide-open field in this black-and-white portrait, Miles resting his head near hers while she holds a straw cowboy hat in front of her, a distant tree line on the horizon.
Miles smiles down at Adalyn as she laughs looking up at him, framed by a white ranch fence and a blurred oak tree in the background.

Vendors

Venue: Texas A&M Hildebrand Equine Complex
Hair & Makeup: Sunkissed and Made Up
Wedding Venue: The Arbor (Houston)

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My philosophy is simple: your wedding day was meant to be EXPERIENCED and not just posing in front of a strangers camera the entire day. I want to capture the must-have portraits and document you truly loving every moment of your wedding day.

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