Rain, Goats, and Zero Posed Photos: Megan + Spencer's Jester King Brewery Wedding

Y'all. I need to tell you about Megan and Spencer, because their Jester King Brewery wedding rearranged something in my brain about what candid wedding photography in Austin can actually be.

When we first talked, they told me they didn't want any posed photos. None. Zero. I did my usual "okay but we can do a few quick posed ones for family, it takes ten minutes, everyone's grandma will thank us" speech.

We didn't do a single one.

And ironically enough, the family photos turned out to be some of my favorites I've ever taken. It was just Megan and Spencer surrounded by their people — laughing, hugging, completely in the moment. No lineup against a wall or "okay now everyone look at me." Just a family being a family, and me quietly doing my job.

First, It Rained. Like, Biblically.

If you don't know Jester King, it's a farmhouse brewery out in the Hill Country just outside Austin, and it is a dream — wide open land, a gorgeous barn, and yes, resident goats (don’t worry, more on that coming).

The day of the wedding, it POURED. Crazy, sideways, Texas-sized rain. The kind of rain that makes a photographer start mentally rewriting the entire timeline while smiling calmly at the bride.

And then, I'm not making this up, it stopped right before the ceremony. We moved everything inside the barn, which honestly might have been the best thing that happened all day. Soft light, everyone tucked in close together, that cozy just-rained feeling. Some of the most intimate ceremony photos I've ever shot.

Afterward, Jester King let the goats out for everyone. It was muddy. It was chaotic. Guests in nice shoes were absolutely losing it over baby goats. Megan and Spencer were right in the middle of it, cracking up.

You cannot pose that. That's the whole point.

What This Wedding Taught Me About Candid Photography

Here's something I don't say out loud enough: some couples are naturally better at being candid than others. That's not a criticism! It's just true. Being photographed while not performing for the camera is weirdly hard.

Megan and Spencer were exceptional at it. They were so in it — in the day, in each other, in every conversation and goat encounter — that they genuinely forgot I was there. They weren't checking where my lens was. They weren't sneaking glances to see if they looked okay. They were just together. And the photos show it. Every frame looks like a memory instead of a photo shoot, which is exactly what documentary wedding photography is supposed to feel like.

That's the real lesson this wedding handed me. Unposed wedding photos aren't about the photographer being sneaky. They're about the couple being present. My job is to be ready when the real stuff happens, and with these two, the real stuff never stopped happening.

"But What Do I Do With My Hands??"

If you're reading this thinking "I want natural wedding photos, but I turn into a haunted mannequin the second a camera appears", babes, I've got you. This is the most common thing couples tell me, and here's how it actually works:

Your job: laugh, hug, kiss, cuddle. Pretend you're on a date. Talk to each other, not to me. Be nosy about the appetizers together. Whisper something dumb. Your only assignment is to be in it, together.

My job: literally everything else. The light, the angles, the timing, the background, whether that one groomsman is about to walk through the frame. And yes, I will guide you. If something looks weird, I'll tell you (kindly, and probably while laughing). If you get in your head about your hands, I'm the one who tells you they look fine. Because they do. They always do.

That's the deal. You be present, I worry about everything else. When couples actually let go of managing the camera, that's when we get the photos that make you cry in your kitchen three years later.

The Kind of Day It Was

Rain that cleared at the exact right moment. A ceremony in a barn. Goats and mud and people who love each other, being loose and unbothered and real. Megan and Spencer trusted the day, trusted each other, and trusted me, and their gallery is proof of what happens when nobody's performing.

Really chill. Really them. My favorite kind of wedding.

If you're dreaming of a Jester King Brewery wedding (or any wedding where nobody says "cheese" even once), I'm your girl. Let's chat.

And if you want more proof that unposed is the way, come see how I work.