Capturing the Magic of Winter with Amberly and Collin
It was the middle of summer, with highs easily pushing into 100+ degrees, when I get a message from my friend Amberly. She was asking if I would be willing to take Christmas Card photos for her and her husband Collin this year, emphasizing the importance of a snowy backdrop since it’s likely to be their last winter in Utah. We both laughed a little at the timing of the question, and I agreed to be available.
We didn’t talk about it much after that, at least not until the morning air started to bite and the sun started turning the lights out noticeably early. As soon as Autumn started to take its hold, we both started watching the weather like hawks.
Sure enough, a good amount of snow was on the forecast for the first time for the weekend before Thanksgiving. We scheduled our shoot.
As I mentioned earlier, Amberly had a single request for this photo shoot: There had to be snow. To ensure a really Christmas-y vibe, I realized that we needed to get to a place with primarily evergreens. After all, nothing looks quite as beautiful as a tall pine laden with fresh snow — a forest of them would be an excellent backdrop.
We ended up finding a place up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was maybe 19 degrees that morning, and the sun hadn’t quite it most of the places we were taking photos. It was wildly chilly, but Amberly and Collin were fantastic sports who were quick to smile. It was a joy to photograph the beautiful couple.
They didn’t even protest when I made them throw snow all over each other!
In between short bursts of shots I would rush over with Amberly’s coat and Collin’s light blanket. I felt almost rude all bundled up in multiple layers and gloves along side these guys!
The cold was well worth the wait for the snow and location. I’m definitely saving this one for future shoots!
You can see a few other highlights of our shoot below.
Or, check out all of the photos alongside my other Winter 2017 portraits here.
