Hatcher Pass, Blinding Sun, and Love!

Ask any photographer and they will most likely tell you to avoid direct sunlight for portraits. What is their advice when you say you can't? Find shade. So, what do you do when you are shooting on a blindingly bright day with not a tree in sight for cover? Thank the lord that you have such wonderful subjects like Liz and Jacob, and start clicking away!

Liz and I have had this session on the books for months, because she was the winner of a Photo Contest I ran at Thanksgiving time. So, fast forward half a year, and we found ourselves meeting for the first time through squinted eyes at the Hatcher Pass Lodge. You'd think if we'd waited that long, a few more hours wouldn't hurt, but the scheduling snaffu was totally my fault. I scoped out Hatcher Pass the week before during a very gloomy overcast day, and did my best to try to figure out where I thought the sun would be in the afternoon or evening. I decided it would definitely be behind some mountain peaks. Nope. (For future reference, anyone wanting to shoot in April at Hatcher Pass at 3PM-- the sun will be directly overhead.)

It was great though. Liz and Jacob were such great sports and have such wonderful chemistry! Plus, I do love sessions like this one that break the rules, because they make you work and grow as a photographer and force you to get creative. And the other brilliant thing is: it was so warm, we were able to enjoy the winter setting without freezing our butts off!

Thanks to Liz and Jacob for being such great sports, and I'm happy to say this will most likely be the last session with snow I will post for a few months! Hurray- we made it through another winter!