10 Reasons to Book Your Photo Session in the Winter

When we think of winter, we might think of dreariness, darkness, and a lack of color. If we're lucky, we'll have snow, which is quite photogenic, but in the St. Louis area, it's spotty. So, if you're looking to book a photo session, why would you want to do it in the winter? And how do you make it work? Let me show you!

1. It's easier for your schedule.

For many people, after the holidays, everything slows down for a bit and your schedule magically clears. The kids are still off of school for part of it, but the endless family gatherings and celebrations have passed. 

2. It's easier for the photographer's schedule.

In the fall, families make a mad grab for every available minute in a photographer's schedule. You have to book months in advance, and you'll likely go back and forth with the photographer many times while scheduling. There's a good chance you'll have to compromise on your ideal date if you ever do finally book. The solution? Enjoy the best-kept secret that is winter scheduling!

3. It's easier for kids' schedules.

In the spring, summer, or fall, sunsets are significantly later than in the winter. Photographers love to shoot at golden hour, and you love the photos that result from that. In the winter, that magical period begins at around 3:30 pm! That's after nap time, before dinner, and before the energy crash around bedtime. Compare that to starting at 7:30 pm in the summer, when little ones are T-I-R-E-D.

4. The weather isn't actually an issue, usually.

In our area, many winter days are actually quite mild. You can find a day in the 40s or 50s and even wait to book it until you have an idea what the weather will do, thanks to the photographer's freer schedule. 

5. In fact, the weather can be the magical part!

Another scheduling option is to hold out for snowy pictures! I seem to have at least one family or couple on standby every winter for a snowy day, and when we see one in the forecast, we coordinate to make photos happen. The result is breathtaking!

6. You don't have to fight other families.

Anyone who's been to a popular photo location in the St. Louis area in the fall knows the drill. The photographers are everywhere, and everyone waits and takes turns at the nooks with the best light or the most scenic surroundings. It can be quite ridiculous! Even the hidden gems are becoming more crowded. In the winter, that problem magically disappears! The location is there just for you, and you can relax and focus on your own family. Kids can run around and be noisy, and parents can enjoy a kiss photo or two without feeling uncomfortable.

7. There are a lot of great location options.

I know what you're thinking: Aren't all of the best spots less attractive in the winter? The good news is, no! They're not! There are a lot of locations that don't require greenery to shine. Klondike Park has a stunning area covered in white sand with pine trees and a beautiful lake and cliffs. Busch Wildlife has a Pine Tree Trail with trees that have consistent color year-round. Inside the City Museum, there are plenty of spots with tons of natural light and fun surroundings, and its outdoor area looks amazing all year. An often-overlooked gem is inside your own home! It's so sentimental to have memories captured where you snuggle and live together, and the soft winter light coming in through the windows can make for lovely photos. These are just a few examples! Talk with me, and we'll find a gorgeous location full of personality for your family!

8. Your fashion choices will have their time to shine.

Winter is a great time to have a blast with your fashion! Because there won't be a ton of overwhelming greenery all around, your clothing can be the center of attention. Plus, it's the perfect time for layering and accessorizing to your heart's content. Have fun with it!

9. Bug spray and sunscreen? Where?

How many times have you wished you brought bug spray or sunscreen to your photo session? The pests and risk of sun damage can certainly impede the fun of a warm-weather session. In the winter, these issues are negligible. Isn't it nice to have one less thing to worry about?

10. It's unique.

Every fall, everyone's social media newsfeed is flooded with family photos. Though beautiful, the images are often quite similar--colorful fall leaves and wardrobe choices that can easily be predicted. Instead of being part of the noise, you can make your photos stand out and reflect your uniqueness.

Don't be shy! Reach out this winter and enjoy the lowered stress and beautiful memories that come with winter photo sessions.

Runner's High (not my story)

Runner’s High
A true story about how less is more.
Ever heard of runner’s high? Basically, these people (for instance my sister) go out and jog around town for godawful distances, get completely sweaty, worn out, totally out of breath, and claim that they love every second of it.
And normal people are thinking, “Uh-huh. Honey, you’re just telling yourself that. You’re anorexic: I mean, you’re not 50 pounds overweight like a real American, so there’s got to be something wrong with you.”
Or for men its, “Yeah, you’re a tough guy. Very impressive.” -eye roll-
What makes these freaks tick?
—
I ran cross country once. It was ten years ago. Every day after school I got together with the most unfocused, irresponsible athletic team that the High School gave recognition to, and we ran long distances. It was terrible. You wheeze, you gasp, your chest hurts, your legs hurt, and if you try to push too hard you can actually make yourself dizzy.
The races were more of the same. Actually they were about three times as bad, because in the excitement of the race you start out running at a completely unsustainable speed. Within the first mile, you have completely run out of oxygen, slowed to a staggering jog, and then you have to hold on and finish the 3.1 mile race. My normal racing time was about 23 minutes, but it might as well have been an hour.
On my best day, I decided to go for broke. I figured it was a mental game. I ran hard and did my best to ignore the pain. It took every ounce of concentration I was capable of. It hurt like hell. If memory serves, I ran a 21:58.
I didn’t make the mistake of doing a second season. Actually I almost did. I showed up for the first “captain’s practice” a few weeks before school began. I went out with them and rediscovered how much I hated running. I didn’t show up again.
After that, I went running a couple of times a year, out of guilt about my sedentary lifestyle. Every time I did, I would draw from my cross country experience: run fast enough that it hurts, and run to exhaustion. Its no big surprise that I was never able to establish a regular fitness routine. All I knew how to do was destroy my body with as much abuse as it could take.
—
In college one time, a friend and I decided to get in shape. We would do a jog around and then lift weights in the gym. I’m not sure how long that lasted, maybe a week? We didn’t stick with it. But something funny happened toward the end that I didn’t think about too carefully.
My friend, you see, wasn’t too enthusiastic about running. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about weight lifting. So we were helping each other out. As a result the runs we went on were pretty easy for me. After a week of easy runs, I felt an urge to run. He told me I was crazy and running was awful. I went out in the evening alone and ran around a track. The sun was long gone, and it was dark and cool.
It felt wonderful. I wasn’t even tempted to keep track of the distance. I just ran around and around, and felt great. I didn’t question it. I just enjoyed it and then walked back to the dorm. We didn’t exercise together again.
—
Last year around March I got it into my head that I would start running. Sometime in the previous year a friend of ours had recounted some parts of the book Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, by Dean Karnazes. I had to admit it was pretty cool. Here’s a guy who runs races far longer than marathons. We’re talking 50, 100, even 200 miles. Ultramarathons. Insane races. Insanely cool. It was inspiring.
I started talking about running a marathon, even though I had never run more than about 6 miles without completely collapsing. And that was after many weeks of practice with the High School team.
I meant to run a couple times a week, with a long run on saturday, starting at about 4 miles and increasing by a quarter mile each week. After a week or so, I had lost interest in my short runs. When my long runs hit 5.25 miles, they were brutal. The studying season for my exams started in earnest, and I seized on a good excuse to quit altogether.
I had made a nice spreadsheet to keep track of my runs, so I noted the few additional times I went out. It came to about 5 runs, 2 miles each, over the next year.
—
That brings us to March of 2008. My sister the runner told me she was doing a 5 mile race in June to get back in shape after having her first baby. The winter was finally over, the weather was inviting, and I was feeling bad about being out of shape. Alright, I said, I’ll do the race with you. I’ll just run “to finish.” Meaning, I’ll just try to finish the race without walking.
After all, I’ve been sitting on my butt for 10 years. I could use the exercise, right?
We talked about this while visiting my parents. My dad is a runner too, and he was going to be in the same race. Its a fun thing to do for family members. I have some other relatives that would be in the race as well, at least one uncle and couple cousins. I’m not sure. We’re a running family. That’s the only reason I ever tried running in the first place.
Before I took my family home from my parents’, I borrowed the Complete Book of Running, a book put out by Runner’s World Magazine. Somehow after all my bad experiences, I was still optimistic about running.
—
So I read the book from Runner’s World Magazine, faster than I expected. In an amazing coincidence, it mentioned in passing the training approach developed by a man I already knew, Tom Osler! I knew him as Dr. Osler, phD, the greatest Mathematics teacher I’ve ever encountered and probably the singular nicest person I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. I had no idea he was well known in the running world.
I got online and found used copies of Ultramarathon Man and Dr. Osler’s book, the Serious Runner’s Handbook. I gobbled them up, and I ran…
The long and the short of it is, I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was running way, WAY too hard! And I don’t just mean that I was discouraging myself. Running that hard all the time is not healthy or particularly helpful. If I had had the willpower to keep it up, I would have ended up causing myself a lot of illness and injuries. Luckily my body was able to imprint upon my subconscious the message “Cut out this nonsense!”
Running the right way is easy. Osler actually recommends you finish EVERY training run feeling as if you could turn around and run the same distance over again!
The human body is an amazing machine. Give it a little bit of stimulation, and it will adapt and grow and improve. But give it serious levels of stress, and it will concentrate on survival. If you tell you body you have a compelling reason to perform at near 100% of capacity, it will respond and go all-out. It will go beyond the bounds of safety and good health. As Osler says, when you push your body to the limit in training, your extra speed doesn’t mean you are in better health. You are becoming faster at the expense of your health. On the other hand, continued exposure to mild amounts of stress will stimulate increased ability at a remarkable clip.
Its so counter-intuitive that I still have trouble believing it. I still push myself a little too hard. Its almost too much to believe that by doing easy runs and holding back from using all my energy, I can actually get more benefit from training, not to mention avoiding the agony that has caused me to quit running over and over again in the past.
A few weeks after starting out, I’m doing about 24 miles a week and going longer all the time.
The psychological benefits are perhaps the greatest part. Not only am I getting faster and fitter every week, but for the first time in my life, I love to run. I look forward to my runs. I probably spend more time thinking about running than I do actually running. And when I get back from a long run, out of breath and sweating hard, with my legs aching and weary, I feel awesome. Especially in my legs. I call it having “happy legs.” Some people call it runner’s high.
I’ve become one of those people. I’m a runner.
—
Most of the people reading this are probably like I was. You’ve gone running before, and it sucked. You hated it. Maybe you kept it up for a while for the sake of exercise, but you never learned to enjoy it.
You’re doing it wrong! You’re going to too fast, running too far, and pushing too hard.
Do an easy run. Do a cakewalk run. Do an embarrassingly easy run. Go for frequency. Do a cakewalk run six times a week and see if you feel like taking it farther. Wait until you want it. Don’t increase your distance until you finish a run wanting to go farther. Alternate long and short distances, and don’t push yourself to exhaustion until you enjoy running so much that you are doing it for the sheer pleasure of it. Oh, and make sure you get a decent pair of running shoes. Blisters are to be expected occasionally, but your feet shouldn’t feel beat up every time you finish a run.
Frankly, you don’t have any good excuse not to do this. You will be healthier, feel better about yourself, lose weight, and have more mental energy.
I can almost guarantee your library has a copy of the Runner’s World book. You really need to read this book, especially if you’re running by yourself without a more experienced friend or coach.
You can do it! And I know you will love it.

Marjorie & Chris :: Engaged! St Louis Wedding Photographer

Marjorie and Chris are simply full of fun!  I couldn't be happier to be photographing this couple!  I think everything you need to know could be surmised from two things that happened the night they got engaged:  dancing in a parking lot, and 30 minutes of praying together.  These two love God, they love fun (and swing dancing!), and they love each other.  Marjorie and Chris, I can not wait for your wedding!  :)

Since they both do love swing dancing, we had to make it a part of their session.  It will definitely make an appearance at the wedding, too, I'm told.

 These two were so playful and fun together, it made my job easy!  They were always up for a quiet, snuggly moment, too, though.

All of these photos were from Main Street St Charles and Frontier Park.  I always meet at Bike Stop Cafe, just for a central location.  This night the cafe had a cute table-side fire on their patio, and we took full advantage. 

We finished out the night by walking along the cobblestone sidewalks of Main Street, and these two rocked it just as much as everything beforehand.

How adorable are these two?!

Marjorie and Chris, I just love the energy the two of you have together, and I am so happy to be your photographer!  Congratulations!!

Jenny & Jason :: Married! St Louis Wedding Photographer

This day was classy, fun, and absolutely teeming with love!  Jenny and Jason had a beautiful wedding day at Blanchette Park.  The rain may have forced this ceremony indoors, but it did not dampen the spirits one bit!  

Jenny and the girls began by getting ready at The Charles Hotel on 5th St in St Charles.

Jenny took a moment while being prepped to write a sweet note to her groom-to-be.

How beautiful of a bride was she?!

Ameristar Casino provided the perfect location for us to take shelter from the rain while still enjoying the natural light.

At this point in the day, it was only sprinkling, but I am so glad Jenny and Jason were willing to brave those sprinkles so we could capture the full story of the day!

All of the chalkboard signs were custom made by the talented Cara's Customs!   

Mr. and Mrs.!

Personally, I think everybody should feed each other cake the way these two did!

Congratulations, Jason and Jenny!  Your day was completely fun and completely beautiful.  I am grateful and honored to have been a part of it!  Thank you to my awesome team of second shooters, Lisa and Justin, and thank you to Carolyn Burke as well, for coordinating the day so well.  Jason and Jenny, we wish you all the best in your many happy years of marriage to come!