Surprise Snowy Fall Engagement Session | Briana + Christian
You know you’re getting “old” when you’ve spent your life watching someone grow up and they call you to shoot their engagement session. I’m pretty sure I said this same thing when she came to me for her Senior Session too. But the best adventures are those shared with friends, and I’m super glad we have Briana + Christian in that category. I’m so thrilled to share their surprise snowy engagement session!
An Everyday Adventure
It’s always an adventure with Briana. When she came to me for Senior photos several years ago, we were on a deadline. The weekend we were scheduled to shoot, a massive storm rolled in. The news was reporting monsoon weather, with flooding in the streets of Tacoma. Every photographer I know canceled all their sessions, even those with indoor studios, as we were supposed to lose power on top of the floods. Briana’s mom and I kept in contact, and during a break in the storm decided to go for it, resulting in one of the greatest Senior sessions and memories we could have asked for.
I should have known this session would be much the same. We originally planned for a location on the southern side of Mount Rainier. Unfortunately, wildfires and construction left this option as a one way in and one way out (both directions being through the area that was on a level 2 evacuation notice). So Friday night I was scrambling to find a new location on the northern side of the mountain. Thankfully my scramble didn’t take too long and I was able to offer another beautiful location outside MRNP. I charted the drive to take about 1.5 hours, and sent Briana + Christian screenshots, images and the new location. They trusted me and we were back on track.
Surprise Snowy Fall Engagement Session
We met up in Greenwater on Sunday morning, where I was incredibly surprised to find out that the location we’d chosen said it was 1 hour and 58 minutes FROM GREENWATER. I broke the news when they arrived that I wasn’t sure what to expect (I try to always be transparent with clients!) since my GPS was telling me it would take almost two hours to make a 12 mile drive. With cheery go-with-the-flow attitudes, Briana + Christian were prepared to take on this 2 hour trek or find a location along the way to “make due”. We headed out caravan style, with no idea what was in store for us.
You guys. I had been checking the weather, but only the current weather for the timeframe. Even after more than a decade in business, I’m still learning, and this time I learned to check past and future reports too… because about a mile from the top of the road, we found 6+ inches of snow. SNOW. My honda had no issues with it (as long as I kept moving), but we weren’t prepared to take Briana’s car up the hill. So we had to park and carpool the rest of the way (this isn’t typical but I’ve known Briana since she was little!). I’d specifically chosen this location because we wouldn’t have to hike, but low and behold, the final gate was closed. So we parked the car, grabbed our gear and hiked the final mile to the top.
It was worth it. The sun came out, the snow glistened and Briana + Christian were all snuggly (mostly to keep warm). We spent the next several hours venturing down the hill, and gathered a variety of seasons in their engagement portraits. This session is everything an adventure session should be. We spent hours talking about Briana + Christian’s wedding plans, their relationship and shared stories of our own. They were game no matter what crazy idea I tossed at them and we made some serious memories while we were at it.
Thank you!
Briana + Christian, Thank you so much for allowing us to photograph your engagement session. I know you will have many adventures ahead of you and cannot wait to see where your life leads. Congratulations on your engagement! We love you!
