I always watch the forecast closely and frequently in the week prior to a session, and Katherine and Anthony's session was no different. Yet somehow, I woke up, saw that the forecast had changed from "cloudy" to "partly cloudy," then looked out the window to see the roads covered in snow! Nobody in the area was expecting this to happen. Luckily, it melted enough to clear the roads so I could meet Katherine and Anthony for the session. This would be the first session I'd ever done in the dead of winter and it would be in Virginia, so I knew this would be my coldest session yet. What I didn't know was exactly how cold it would be. Although the snow all melted before I could get a shot of Katherine's ring in the snow, it was still cold enough for us to take pictures in front of a frozen pond.
After meeting through their friends a few years earlier, Anthony proposed to Katherine in Washington DC on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial, which faces the Washington Monument. They wanted to have their engagement photos in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, so in the week between Christmas and New Year's, we met up in Crozet, slightly west of where Katherine and I both grew up. Their outfits were the perfect winter engagement session outfits; the colors were so classically wintery, Katherine's red sweater was a perfect fit for that time between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and Katherine's mom made the scarves that both of them wore to the session. Katherine's yellow-gold ring was covered by her gloves for a good part of the session, but it made for some cute photos of her trying to keep Anthony's hands warm. We ended the session a little earlier than I usually do because the windchill was so brutal (by our Virginia standards), but the golden hour lighting kept us out for just a few more pictures.
I'm so glad we were able to brave the cold at least for a little while and that the snow didn't keep us from driving to these mountain views. Since apparently everyone else in Crozet decided to stay inside that day (not that we can blame them), we had this gorgeous landscape all to ourselves. It's always an honor to be part of putting these sweet moments into pictures, but it's even more special in the wide open with absolutely nobody else in sight. I can't wait to come back to Charlottesville for the next part of Katherine and Anthony's story!
