Midwest weather is fickle at best. Matt, Faezeh, and I definitely came up on this when planning their engagement session! We had to reschedule due to icy conditions the first time, so when a big snow storm came up the day before our ALREADY RESCHEDULED session I felt the dread mount in my chest.

Last year I had to reschedule so many sessions due to the fact that the weather would not cooperate. Roads were treacherous! Dreams of sun soaked sunset sessions were thwarted by cloudy skies. Rain made the idea of frolicking through the fields a mess of a muddy idea.

So when this snow started to fall leading me to cancel all of my sessions the Friday before our session - well - I wondered what Faezeh and Matt would want to do.

After the worst of the weather had cleared out I sent and email asking about what the wanted to do. The snow had been thick, heavy, and inches deep. The city had prepared for it and the roads seemed okay, but I knew they wanted to shoot in a local wooded area. That would mean trudging through the snow for over an hour in nice clothes and good shoes. I was game, but I know that for some the idea of having your picture taken is already a daunting enough task in the most perfect condition.

I waited for their reply.

When it came through that they wanted to shoot - I was thrilled! We had picked a sunrise time to make sure that we would have the space to ourselves and that the light would be optimal, but that also meant it was COLD. I packed up some extra blankets, a few towels to dry of any snow problems we may come across, and extra fully charged batteries because nothing drains a battery like freezing temps!

I woke up before my alarm that morning - too excited to sleep. I wanted to make sure I would get there with plenty of time and since I wasn’t entirely sure how great the roads would be I took off before I needed to.

Luckily there was only a few places that were dicey as far as road conditions went and - probably because of the snow and the time of day - our shooting location was totally empty! We had this entire, perfectly snow covered forest entirely to ourselves. It was magical!

I loved getting to shoot with Faezeh and Matt and get to chat with them about how they met (they’re both engineers, no big deal). Matt’s excitement for the Super Bowl (go Chiefs!). Faezeh’s family and her international experience. The time FLEW by!

Honestly I got so excited and heated up running around taking photos I had to take off my coat about ten minutes into the session! They both did amazing through the entire thing (though I don’t think they minded snuggling super close to keep warm) and we came away with some absolutely magical moments in the snow.

Cannot wait to photograph their wedding in July where the weather will (hopefully) be entirely different!

Check out some of their images below!