Snow might not be that uncommon in late February in certain parts of the northern hemisphere but in Albuquerque if it does snow it’s usually no more than a half inch sheet and will be gone by the afternoon. So when we get 8 inches over two days a portrait photographer like myself needs to take advantage.

Now getting a model to do a shoot at the last minute can be a hassle but lucky for me, my lovely girlfriend Emilie was more than willing to be my subject out in the bosque.

Normally in complex weather conditions you get an excellent side effect with overcast acting as a giant softbox in the sky.  The problem was is that the sky was only partly cloudy so we didn’t get the soft light I wanted 100% of the time, making shooting a bit challenging. Lucky for me though, I was able to keep my ISO at 100 making for optimal image quality.

One thing you might be noticing from the images is that there is a lot of light being reflected upward. This was an added effect of the white snow on the ground reflecting the light back up at Emilie.

The snow allowed for some unique aesthetics that we don’t get a lot of where I’m from and I’m grateful for the opportunity. But to be completely honest I can live without the snow. It makes it hard to move around and the cold makes it limiting in terms of wardrobe. If it could just be in the upper 60s with constant overcast I’d be in my own photography heaven but we can’t always get what we want. But you know what we all have work with what we’re given and when you’re given something different you owe it to yourself to try it out.