Acadia National Park had been on my list for a long time — not just as a place I wanted to visit, but as a place I desperately wanted to photograph. When Chelsea and Ryan reached out about eloping there in October, I wanted to be their photographer immediately. I drove four hours from Manchester to Bar Harbor, settled into a converted tea house at their AirBnB — which was all mine for the next two nights — and headed out to explore downtown. I found a bar with incredible fresh fish tacos, fell into easy conversation with strangers from all over the country about weddings and photography and life, and went to bed early knowing I needed to be up long before sunrise. The next morning Ryan appeared at my door with fresh hot coffee and the news that pumpkin pancakes were on the way — and just like that, one of the best days of my career had officially begun. What followed were the best twelve hours of my photography career, starting off with thick morning fog, peak fall foliage, rocky Maine coastline, a rescue dog named Milo, a first dance in the middle of the road, and two people who chose to spend the most important day of their lives exactly as themselves — adventurous, intimate, and completely free.