Astrophotography Engagement Session

Sometimes we have couples who come to us for an Alt Session because they have a very specific idea of what they want to do and they haven’t found anyone else who could bring their idea to life. This was the case with Jenn and Phil’s astrophotography engagement session. And it might be one of the biggest compliments we could possibly get, because it means that we’re continually pushing the bounds of what engagement photography looks like…and that people like it!

Jenn and Phil wanted two things for their engagement session: the Great Sand Dunes and star photos – which also happen to be two of our own favorite things in this world.

But star photos can be a challenge to get, primarily due to the weather. For this Great Sand Dunes engagement session, we sat down to look at our calendars in early September and we came up with a date for the photoshoot, plus a backup date in case the weather didn’t cooperate.

Well, the weather didn’t cooperate. First it was cloudy. Then on the backup date, the winds were gusting at up to 50 miles per hour, which would have meant that keeping a camera still for long enough to capture the stars would be next to impossible. So we looked at two more dates. The next one ended up being too cold. And I started to really worry about whether we were going to make this session happen. Luckily, on our drive home from Telluride, all the stars seemed to be aligning (pun absolutely intended). The weather was warm enough, the skies were clear, and we ended up having a really wonderful adventure with Jenn and Phil.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve had to change a session around from what we had initially planned in our minds. But for anyone concerned that things aren’t working out the way you had hoped, whether it’s for your engagement session or your wedding, I’m happy to report that it almost always turns out better than if it had gone according to plan. The photos below are proof.