This may have been a local session at a popular location, but it sure was an adventure!

I got to know the De La Cruz family long-distance via email when they reached out from their home in North Dakota to book a family session! Mom's sister lives here (very close to me, actually! Such a small world!) and they wanted to get some iconic Colorado-themed family photos while here.

Mom and Dad also happened to be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary! Congratulations to Elida and Ruben!

This session was an adventure for a number of reasons.

1. We had to reschedule this session due to the biggest winter storm of the season to hit our region, naturally on the very day of the session! Mercifully storms move through Colorado quite quickly and we were able to reschedule while they were still in Colorado!
2. Trekking on uneven ground with patches of thick snow is no joke! But the De La Cruz family had it covered. The cold didn't bother them, coming from North Dakota (and it was actually quite mild until the sun went down), and especially daughter Sofia was practically a little mountain goat, climbing all over the rocks and actually inspiring some of the more scenic images we managed to get! On the photography end, it was interesting trying to get my usual shots without actually laying in the snow - time to invest in some new snow pants!
3. One struggle at this spot of Garden of the Gods is the complete lack of shade. If there is no cloud cover, we are blasted by full, bright Colorado sunshine until it dips behind the mountains. When there are no clouds, we lose nearly all color at that point as well. And on this day, we had zero clouds. So we definitely were challenged to create beautiful images in the time we had before sunset! But when the sun went down....

The MAGIC happened!!! The only reason it did was because of the snow. The snow creates this clean, bright, beautiful scene. It reflects perfect light onto everyone's skin. Where there are no clouds, the snow bounces color around. The last rays of the sun peeking through the foothills illuminated the mountain sides which just minutes before had been blasted by bright light and rendered nearly invisible.

I say it over and over and people either don't believe me, or just don't want to feel cold at all, but snow is MAGIC. It's one of my favorite scenes to take pictures in. And you can totally look amazing and feel comfortable at the same time if you plan your wardrobe right!

I'm so, so glad the De La Cruz family found me and chose me to help capture their family and celebrate their very special milestone. This snowy, adventurous session is one I will never forget!