A Winter Engagement Session
A winter storm had just blown through the Ozark's. Dropping temperatures below freezing. The day of Kayla and Nathan's Engagement session, temperatures spiked back up into the 60s. The warmth of the sun drawing people out. Clear skies. Very Little wind. A perfect winter day. Kayla, Nathan, and I met at Nathanael Green Park. Eager to start, we began walking the trails.
Kayla and Nathan were a joy to talk too! We chatted about where they grew up, how they had gotten to know each other, and all the possibilities for the future. As we walked around the park, we realized that winter had taken its toll. Sections of grass had been burnt down. Places were flowers bloom brightly during the summer were completely flattened to dirt. Park employees had taken this time to clear out sections of forest leaving wide open expanses of trees. The Hosta garden, which I typically avoid due to dense vegetation and low light, was open and bright due to lack of plant growth. The park was, for lack of better words, not the most beautiful. We did spot tiny pops of green sprouts in some of the gardens. Several of these green spouts even had yellow and purple flowers! Small hints that spring is coming. Even though the park wasn't the prettiest, I knew that this would not effect the beauty of the images. The secret is just finding good light and turning it into something magical. That's just what we did!
There were several events during the session that I can honestly say has never happened to me before 😂. At least at Nathanael Greene. While spending time in the hosta garden, we had live music playing. Props to the young man who decided to bring his acoustic guitar! We were really loving the ambiance. Next, while standing near the middle of the pond during golden hour we heard rather loud bangs. It was unclear if the noise came from a distant car, machinery at he park...or worst case scenario, a gunshot. No one else seemed alarmed which we took as a good sign. Still crossing my fingers it was the car. 🤞 lol Last, as we were walking the trails, we started to approach the cutest fluffy dog...maybe not the most friendly though. The owner begin to yank the dog bank as it snarled and barked at us. To all future clients, almost all dogs that I've ever encountered at this park are the friendliest. Maybe there was a weird energy in the air that night? 😆
Throughout the session, Kayla and Nathan received a multitude of compliments and congratulations on their future marriage. We met so many kind people. As sunset approached, the temperatures began to fall. Poor Kayla continued to mention she was cold and I suddenly remembered that I had a spare hand warmer in my bag. I got it out and started prepping it to give to her after we had finished a few photos. Something must have happened to make me completely forget about the hand warmer, because it wasn't until we made it all the way back to the cars that I remembered it was in my pocket 🙈. Photographer fail there 😂 Kayla, I still feel bad about this. I am so sorry!!! But I am confident that we probably won't need hand warmers at your wedding 😉. Bring on those warm summer days!!! ❤️
Kayla + Nathan