Rachel + Bill | Winter Engagement
I have had so many amazing winter engagement portrait sessions lately! I would say they’ve been half and half at Chestnut Ridge Park or the Erie County Botanical Gardens - these are my two favorite places for winter time portraits, depending on what you are looking for. If you want to still be warm, choose the botanical gardens… but if you want some wild and free nature with some west-coast feeling forest, the Eternal Flame trail in Orchard Park is the best you’ll get.
When Rachel and William mentioned that they love hiking and nature, I knew that this was the perfect spot for their engagement session. We totally lucked out with a gorgeous, sun filled, warm day - one that meant we didn’t even need coats! However, anyone who has been to the Eternal Flame in the winter knows that they don’t plow the parking lot. This meant that the 2+ feet of snow that we had at the time was now melted into about a foot of water. It felt like we drove through a pond to get there. This also meant that anyone not in a truck, SUV or with REALLY good tires was not getting out easily. At the end of the session, we happened upon one such unlucky car. William and I tried to help push them out. Well, I did once… and once the water when up over my boots, soaking me inside and out, I decided to see if I had a chain to tow them out with instead - and when I got back someone else had taken my spot. But William totally ruined his nice shoes, got soaked from the waist down, and saved a few people a large towing bill. These two are totally my people - willing to go out of their way to help others, even if it means you are soaked and cold for hours on end afterwards.
