Morgan & Eric visited Montana for their honeymoon after their Florida wedding. Going from one corner of the contiguous United States to virtually the opposite corner. Trading beaches for mountains and sun and warmth for winter.
They were absolute champs though, and Morgan fully embraced the winter setting by pelting Eric with snowballs—with a little bit of warning at least—to close out the session. Because if your winter portraits don't break out in a snowball fight, did they ever happen?
This portrait session with Ed and Suzette was perfect for so many different reasons. Not the least of which was they were just a joy to spend a couple of hours with while we all lost feeling in our hands. For one thing, it was a great reminder you don't need to be recently engaged or recently married to have portraits taken. It can be any milestone, such as a 20th anniversary which is very much worth celebrating. It can also be an opportunity to document your vacation to an area that has a dramatically different climate than the one you're used to, and they were certainly not used to a massive powder day in Whitefish. It snowed all day, which was a dream come true for me, because I finally had the opportunity for a portrait session with it actively snowing, which had eluded me up to this point.
Ed's suit was rented from Mimi's Bridal in Kalispell.
Xaviera & Adam contacted me sort of last minute as they were visiting Whitefish for a quick vacation and visiting wedding venues for a wedding the following year. It'd been a while since I'd had the opportunity to photograph a winter engagement portrait session so I was thrilled that I was available and we made plans to freeze our collective rear-ends off and pay Glacier National Park a visit. In these scenarios, I always feel a little bit bad for the couple who is trying to be cute and handsome in below-freezing temperatures while I get to bundle up as much as possible. And of course, as is often the case in life, the women suffer more than anyone else, as cute women's clothing is typically offers less coverage, and is just generally not as warm, to begin with.
Xaviera and Adam were troopers about it though, and braving the frigid temperatures was totally worth it.
I'd hate to speak for other photographers, but for this particular photographer, repeat business is one of the best feelings ever. I met the Ahmad family this past fall when they were paying a visit to Northwest Montana, and I was extremely stoked to get a text from them again this winter asking if I was available for some portraits this February as they were here for some powder turns at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
While it was certainly chilly we did manage to sneak in before an arctic system moved in and temperatures plunged below zero. We were also blessed with the most perfect light snowfall, something I've been wanting to have for a portrait session for the last three years but had never materialized until now!
My wife and I both come from a long line of teachers, with current and retired teachers on both sides of our respective families. As such we've got an immense amount of respect for those individuals that choose such a noble profession. So whenever I get an opportunity to work with one of my daughter's teachers it's always an honor. This winter I got to reconnect with her first grade teacher who had a profound impact on my daughter, and by extension us. She and her husband have three boys so it seemed appropriate to schedule the session in a location with an epic sledding hill to close out the photos.
