I love doing winter engagement sessions with summer wedding couples because it gives us an opportunity to work together and create magic under tricky circumstances. If we can make something awesome in the snow globe, we can surely do it again in the summer.
Well the winter conditions when we shot in March took that idea to about level 8, and my first conversation with these two was on a steep slope in occasionally thigh-deep snow, trekking to a spot where we could look down on the Mammoth Lakes Basin from above. They passed that test, we made amazing engagement images in the winter scene, which led seamlessly into their June wedding at Mammoth Mountain.
The parameters had been set for how far I could push these two to make awesome mountain images (there were no boundaries), and we had three opportunities to bounce around in the trees and on the remaining snow to chase light and ridiculous Eastern Sierra backdrops.
The snow-lined Forest Chapel ceremony was spectacular, the McCoy Station / Parallax reception was brilliant, and we even got out at the end of the evening for some shots with the Milky Way under brilliant early-summer skies.
Their climber friends accompanied us on a few of these photo forays, entertaining us with their urban climbing skills at sunset, and their puke-and-rally skills while we made the night images.
This Las Vegas couple was, for sure, our people and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of them this winter. Thanks so much everybody and we’ll have more from Mammoth Mountain weddings coming in soon.
- Venues: The Westin Monache, Forest Chapel and McCoy Station/Parallax at Mammoth Mountain
- Officiant: Jill Orozco
- DJ: Ron Orozco
