Engagement Photos In Stillwater
Just before we photographed two weddings on July 14th & 15th (details on both will be coming soon), and then went on vacation the following day, I had the pleasure of creating Clint and Kaia’s engagement photos in Stillwater, MN. It was a beautiful, mostly clear, warm summer night with a gentle breeze out of the south. Other than it being a little on the warm side, it was a perfect summer evening in Minnesota!
Kaia’s mom, Dawn, came along too. She helped make sure that Kaia’s hair was just right, and on one occasion, making sure that the wind didn’t blow “Lightning McQueen” over. Yes, once again I had my custom-built lighting cart with me. That time, I had my 48″ softbox on Lightning and had it extended fairly high off the ground facing into the light breeze.
“Lightning McQueen” in action!
The two images below clearly show the difference between “natural light” and “natural light with a little fill” added in. Notice the light in the eyes. That’s why I tote “Lightning McQueen” with my on most portrait sessions and at many weddings too!
Clint & Kaia without any added fill light from “Lightning McQueen”.
Clint & Kaia with added fill light from “Lightning McQueen”.
Professional Photographs in Stillwater
I really enjoy making engagement photographs in Stillwater, MN (and most any type of portrait for that matter). It’s a quaint, historic town, with great photo opportunities at almost literally every corner of town. Stillwater offers both scenic and urban settings, which are both nice options to have for engagement photographs.
I’ve lost track of how many times that I’ve created clients’ photographs in Stillwater, MN, over the years. Between engagement photos, senior portraits, kids photographs, and all of the wedding photography, but it has to be at least sixty times. In fact, we created our daughter Michelle and her now-husband Ben’s engagement portraits in Stillwater, MN about three years ago.
Cute photo of Clint and Kaia created in an alley near The Freight House.
Light Painting Photos in Stillwater
Heck, two of my favorite light paintings (so far) have been created in Stillwater, MN. The first was of a 1955 Chevy Bel Air with the Stillwater Lift Bridge in the distant background. The famous bridge was permanently closed to vehicular traffic just a couple of weeks afterward.
The second, Corey and Ashley’s stunning light painted engagement portrait with a Harley Davidson Motorcycle, was created at the historic St. Croix Boat & Packet building. That one is on display in our studio’s gallery!
Clint and Kaia
But I digress, we began taking photographs near the St. Croix River. The St. Croix is very high right now, in fact, there’s an orange fence blocking close access to the river. So on this beautiful evening, we got Clint and Kaia elevated and I went “de-elevated”. The purpose, to get the lift bridge in their photograph and not the orange fence. I’d say it worked pretty well!
Then the four of us took a stroll behind the Freight House making sure to stay in the shade for better light and to stay cooler. We found several great photo spots within about 100 feet of each other. Then we moved a short distance down the street and found three more spots almost side-by-side.
Clint & Kaia in one of the countless photo spots in downtown Stillwater, MN.
We finished up with cool refreshments and a couple of very sunny photos on the patio at Charlie’s Restaurant and Irish Pub. All-in-all, it was a great evening to get to know each other better before their December wedding that will be held in Faribault, MN.
Here’s a cute video with some of my favorite images and a couple of video clips tossed in there just for fun. Thanks for reading our post and have a great day! – M&J