Photoshoot in a Blizzard
Alaina
When I was in Washington, DC this past weekend to attend the March for Life, after the march my friend and I took her daughters back to the hotel in Arlington. By that time, the blizzard had hit and we decided to have dinner at the hotel..
Click here for a gallery of my images from the 2016 March for Life.
But I wanted to do some pictures of the girls in the snow, backlighting them with a flash to highlight the storm around them. Gamely, they agreed and we went outside. I have been taking "ongoing" senior shots of the oldest girl, Alaina, as she is my confirmand, meaning I was her sponsor when she received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Wow. Not only had the blizzard intensified, but the temperature had dropped considerably. Whatever shots we were going to get, they had better be taken quickly. The girls were getting cold and even my camera was beginning to whine - although, I gotta hand it to Yongnuo, whose speedlite and triggers still operated despite getting wet from snow.
Angelina catching snowflakes on her tongue.
Alaina and her "epic hair."
With those legs, maybe it is not hard to imagine that Angelina loves basketball and crushes on Lebron James.
Alaina is a trouble maker!
But during our impromptu photoshoot, a couple walked by and laughed with us at the notion of doing something as ludicrous as taking pictures in a historical blizzard. So I asked them to pose, instructing them to get close, as if about to kiss, but don't actually do it - doing that invariably gets a great smile from one or both.
But at the same time, the wind shifted and I started getting snow blowing directly at my camera. This started to cause problems with the auto focus and I grabbed a few images, then called it a day as I couldn't see anymore. The couple laughed, she said, "Good luck with your photoshoot!" and they disappeared into the swirling snow.
I figured I had not gotten anything and, in fact, most of their pictures were not optimal because of the snow on the lens. BUT . . . there was this one.
I wanted to get them that image. My niece, Jen Richer at 94.7 Fresh, started tweeting it out to the area, as well as post it on the radio station's Facebook page. I took the Reddit route and posted a call for help in both r/washingtondc and r/arlingtonva.
The Washington DC subreddit paid off.
Ha, IO knew Reddit would deliver! In about an hour's time, I had my answer. The couple is Lindsay Miller and Chris Wong of Arlington, VA. And from Facebook I found out they are engaged, so to them I wish many blessings in their life ahead and God's grace on their home.
And they will always have this memory of Snowmageddon 2016.