Leavenworth Wedding Engagement Photos in the Snow

A few weeks ago I did my first engagement photography session of the year in Leavenworth, WA. Kim and Scott have a wedding planned for later in the summer and were interested in having some winter engagement photos taken. One of the things I like about doing engagement sessions is that they give me a chance to begin to build a relationship with couples before their wedding day. My goal is to get them feeling comfortable with me and the camera so that they can relax and have fun, and I can take more candid photos. Kim admitted to me ahead of time that they feel awkward about getting their photos taken. So do I. That is why I don’t like lining people up and telling them to face me and smile, while I take a picture. It feels awkward and it rarely captures people being themselves.

In the week leading up to our shoot, I was watching the weather to see what kind of conditions we might have. The forecast was for mostly sunny skies with a small chance of snow later in the day. Whether we had sun or snow flurries, I knew we would have a fun time. I showed up early with sunny skies and scoped out some possible locations and noted the lighting conditions. By the time Kim and Scott arrived, the sky had become completely grey and snow was beginning to fall. The downside was that all of the beautiful late-day golden winter light was gone. The upside was that the cloud cover creates a nice soft light that is both flattering and potentially easier to work with, and besides I like snow. We started off slowly and by the end of the session Kim and Scott were having fun and smiling more spontaneously and maybe even forgetting, even if  just for a moment, that I was there with a camera.