A Winter Engagement Session in Red Deer, Alberta

I could not think of a better way to kick off the new year then to spend it with Connor and Hannah for their engagement session!

Hannah first reached out to me back in November of 2021 and we immediately hit it off! We talked about having their winter engagement session in the mountains to capture those snowy trees and mountain views. When she told me how Connor proposed to her I couldn’t believer it! It was almost exactly how my husband proposed to me. We knew at that moment it was meant to be!

A slight change of plans

We originally had their engagement session booked for December. Connor ended up with the flu and they couldn’t make it! We were all so disappointed! I knew how excited they were for their engagement session. I wanted to make sure I could get them booked in again right away. With my schedule being so busy around the holidays, it wasn’t looking like we would be doing a mountain visit anytime soon. Hannah and I agreed it would still be special to have their session right here in Red Deer.

When the weather gets in the way

We got them booked in for December 31(Yes! New Years Eve!) I was so stoked and couldn’t wait to bring in the new year with them. Well, in comes -40 degree weather for the entire 2 weeks of the Christmas season! We knew we couldn’t do their engagement photos in that kind of weather. So we quickly checked the forecast for the next tolerable day, Sure enough, January 2nd had a break in the cold snap for us to get together and FINALLY capture these two love birds!

Although we had talked on the phone I couldn’t wait to actually see them in person. It was also an exciting day as I hadn’t been able to take photos outside for weeks due to the extremely cold weather! Needless to say, I was PUMPED for their winter engagement session!

The forecast had said it would be -4. Normally in Red Deer that means the warmest part of the day will be mid afternoon. That was not the case for this day. Turns out that the warmest part of the day was at 5am before the sun even came up. SO WEIRD!! It ended up dropping quite a bit in temperature as soon as we all arrived. There was no way we were letting that hold us back though. I’ll take -10 over -40 ANYDAY!

Finding the perfect photo location

We met up at Michener Park here in Red Deer, Alberta. I chose this location because of all the beautiful pine trees and gorgeous trails surrounding us. If you haven’t walked around Michener Park recently, I highly recommend you do so! I don’t always use this area for sessions, but I really wanted to capture those snowy pine trees for Hannah and Connor. Michener Park gave us this perfect snowy mountain feel right here in town! Since we had to make so many adjustments to their winter engagement session, I really wanted this day to be perfect for them!

I will definitely be adding Michener Park to my regular list of spots though. WOW! This local area is surrounded by beautiful trees and glorious light! It truly is a photographers dream location.

How this winter engagement shoot all came together

Hannah, Connor and I immediately jumped into photos! It was like we had been friends for ages. Although they felt uncomfortable posing, it was AMAZING how they were so natural in front of the camera. Full of joy; their love shone through making it a privilege to capture their winter engagement photos.

About half way through their engagement shoot we decided to take a moment and warm up in the car. This was such a special time for me to get to know them and was honestly the best part of my day!

By the end of the shoot… WE. WERE. COLD!!!

I mean freezing! The wind was making it less than ideal for posing but Hannah and Connor were troopers! You can’t even tell just how freezing they must have been and these images are some of my favourites of all time!

I can’t wait to hangout with them, their family and friends as they say their vows this coming July 2022. I hope you all enjoy these photos from their engagement session.

Here is a great resource for writing your own wedding vows. If you are struggling with where to begin than that is a must read!