Loveland Pass Engagement Photos in Colorado
Logan & RJ's Loveland Pass Engagement Photos in Colorado | Continental Divide CO Engagement Photos | Rocky Mountain Photography | Apollo Fields Wedding Photographers
I spent the morning before Logan & RJ’s engagement session in Denver with my friend Frances. The day felt so “Colorado”— sun shining, no clouds, almost 70 degrees even though it was November. We had lunch together and I was wearing a no-sleeves shirt, and on my way out of the restaurant, Frances kept bugging me to make sure I had proper winter clothes packed in my car.
I’m no stranger to the extreme weather changes in Colorado, or the temperature discrepancies at altitude, but I will say that there are few things I’ve been more grateful for than the pair of winter gloves that Logan & RJ threw me after about five minutes of shooting at about 12,000 feet with 28MPH winds!
It wasn’t snowing, but every time the wind gusted and blew the top layer of powder up into clouds it sure felt like it was. The summit is stunning any time of year, but it holds a special meaning for this sweet couple because it is actually where they got engaged! So we really wanted to make this spot work. Truth be told, we did… for about five minutes.
The wind was absolutely GUSTING, and while I’m a sucker for the whole dirty-boots-messy-hair look, at some point you have to ask are we having fun right now?
I had spotted a pull-off that was only a short drive down the mountain, and Logan and RJ enthusiastically agreed to head down that way and let me tell you, it was a GAME CHANGER. The wind and temperature and light was so much more manageable, and just then, the alpenglow broke over the snow capped rockies.
If you don’t know what alpenglow is, well, you should. Alpenglow happens around sunrise and sunset and is the result of the light being directed through more atmosphere as the sun either rises or falls. It’s also epic. It creates that warm orangey dew on the tops of the mountains while the bottoms remain cool and blue. I was so excited when the light began to fall along the backdrop of Loveland and we got to close out this chilly, windy evening together before heading back into Denver.
Enjoy Logan & RJ’s Engagement Photos:
Lindsey & Jeff's Colorado Winter Engagement Photography at Lake Dillon
Lindsey & Jeff's Winter Engagement Session | Lake Dillon, Colorado | Mountain Engagement Photography | Adventure Couple | Dog Lovers | Apollo Photojournalism
Lindsey and Jeff are everything that I love about my Colorado couples: they are fun and easygoing, outdoor enthusiasts, dog lovers, and down to earth. Lindsey is bubbly and outgoing, and when I first met her she was planning a wedding while wrapping up her nursing degree. Jeff is composed and polite, and when they first met, it was only fitting that they hit a park together to take their dogs on a walk together.
They quickly connected over their love of dogs and nature, so we knew right away that we wanted the pups to be part of their engagement photos! They wanted those epic Colorado mountain landscapes and Lake Dillon was the perfect backdrop. It was a chilly Denver day, but the sun was out which made it surprisingly bearable. However, by the time we made it up the mountain and out to Lake Dillon, the wind had picked up and the elevation was doing us no favors. It was a balmy seven degrees Fahrenheit (are you picking up on the sarcasm yet)??? Oh my lord, it was FREEZING! With the wind chill coming off the lake, the "feels like" weather report was well into the negatives.
As soon as we stepped out of the car, I thought Lindsey and Jeff were going to want to reschedule. No way they were going to want to shoot in this weather, I thought to myself. But they just smiled and said, "Let's go!" I loved their can-do attitude, embracing the harsh Colorado sun that was bouncing off the pristine snow, and absolute chill that was running over the lake. We did take a few breaks to warm back up in the car and I kept having to warm my camera up in my jacket because it was struggling to keep up, but we got these awesome shots which made it SO WORTH IT!
Lindsey was so sweet because as we were headed back to Denver, she thought the pictures were going to be horrible. She said thought her face was all frozen and her eyes would be too squinty, but I sent her a sneak-peak that night and she was over the moon! This is one of my favorite parts about my job, when the conditions are less-than-ideal and we can turn around and make epic photos anyway. Any photographer can shoot beautiful pictures in optimal weather with diffused golden light, but I pride myself on being able to 'wow' my clients when it's freezing and we're only able to shoot in blaring direct sun, too!!
Colorado Engagement Photography: Erny Photo CO | Apollo Photo
Location: Lake Dillon, Colorado
