[Justin & Emily || Roanoke Engagement]
I have had to shoot in a LOT of different weather scenarios:
- SNOW
-Hail
- Freezing weather
- Thunder storms
- Tornado warnings (HELLO. wind)
- Sweltering summers
-etc.
The most common difficulty is of course, rain. There are certain engagement sessions that are SO strategically planned and scheduled months and months in advanced, and absolutely cannot be rescheduled— andddd, that was the situation with Justin & Emily!
Emily is in law school and was doing a specific type of brief internship this summer (Ironically, in Roanoke!) and Justin works at the Smithsonian Museum.
We scheduled the LAST possible Saturday evening that I had available in June (aka wedding season) so as time got closer and we noticed the intensity of the rain, we had no choice but to move forward!
I get asked often what I do in these scenarios, so I wanted to take a little bit of time to share how I personally strategize this type of an inevitable shooting situation.
First, I will say that if I CAN reschedule rain, I absolutely 100% will do that first.
Next, I do NOT fear shooting in rain, because my gear IS weather proofed and I have plenty of rain gear to rock it in.
When I officially knew we were going to have rain, I started to look at the weather and check for patterns and see how much timing would play a factor. We DID meet a couple hours earlier than planned, in hopes to avoid the worst of the rain, and that did help— a little ;)
Next, I mapped out a TON of different options for us and talked through them with Emily to see which ones she would favor.
Based on her response, I planned out the day with all the options starting at the #1 spot, ending with the least desirable.
Here is the order of events/stops so you can follow along as you see the photos:
-We met at Sweet Donkey Coffee. I thought of Sweet Donkey because there is an outdoor patio and seating that is covered, so I knew I would have the option in this scenario that still would give us some “outdoor-ish” photos with greenery. This worked out so well because Emily actually did a lot of her studying here while she was living in Roanoke for her internship.
-Then we went to the Tabman Museum. I knew this would be a beautiful indoor option for us, and Emily agreed/trusted me. This was before I even knew Justin worked at the Smithsonian, so turns out, Museums are a pretty cool part of their relationship.
-After this, we went to a really cool, fully covered pedestrian bridge that just happens to have full ceiling to floor windows, providing the most beautiful natural lighting.
-Next, we headed to the Farmer’s market area, which also gives us outdoor photos with coverage.
-Finally, we ended at this area that I discovered during the winter which is a covering of ivy that also gave us GREENERY and some good coverage from the rain!
These two were absolute champs and completely flexible the entire time. I’m so grateful for them, to know them, and to one day get those beautiful mountain photos we dreamed of ;)
I cannot wait for their wedding in MAY! :)
Check out all the photos I outlined below:
