Ever wonder what we photographers that live in cold weather states do about outdoor sessions when winter hits? For many of us it’s a time to slow down, pay taxes, update marketing materials, get some maintenance done on our equipment, but we still have time to do some sessions here and there before the weather warms up. Besides in-home sessions, the other thing we get to do occasionally are snowy sessions. If you live in Colorado, you know how tricky these sessions can be to plan because when it snows here it pretty much melts as soon as the sun hits it, so it doesn’t stay around for very long. Thus, when the opportunity presents itself and you know that’s what you want, we have to jump on it!

These are my friends, the S family, looking so beautiful in this chilly, chilly weather that allowed for the snow to stick around just a bit longer than it typically does in Colorado. I honestly thought the S family was done with snow sessions, because the last time we did one, it was literally a blizzard and the snow was coming down so hard we almost couldn’t see, haha! Even though it was cold, we didn’t have to worry about the snow actually coming down and blinding us!

I loved the coordination of their outfits, as the warm tones really picked up the setting sun coming through the bare trees. They were smart and wore flannel, and corduroy which are typically warmer than your average clothing. If you are considering a snowy session, I would also suggest layering your outfit with a base layer under your regular clothes, like something you would wear under ski clothes. It has to be discreet though, so you don’t look too bunched up, haha! You can even do cute scarfs and even hats to accessorize. You want to be cute and coordinated, but you also don’t want to freeze to death, haha!

I know some of us love the fullness of trees in the spring, summer, and fall; but there is just a peacefulness in the bare trees, with snow on the ground in the winter time. The one thing I do have to remind myself to be prepared for, is there is no sitting on the bare ground in the snow unless I have a water proof blanket; hence seated poses are pretty limited for snowy sessions.

I loved these candid walking photos right at the end, because ya know, walking is a great go-to solution when you need to warm up. My final tip is that snowy sessions work best with a 30 minute mini-session. Any more time in the cold temperatures is asking for trouble, especially if there are kids involved. Thirty minutes is plenty of time to get in poses of the entire family, kiddos together, parents; and either individuals of each kid or each parent with all the kiddos. I hope you enjoyed living vicariously through the S family and their gorgeous snowy session. I also thought I would throw in one final photo from the blizzard conditions we photographed in the first time we did a snowy session together. Trust me, this first snowy session was not as enjoyable as the second snowy session.

See you next month!