Here are some of my favorite images from Jay & Vanessa’s fall engagement portraits in Stillwater, MN.
Bridge kiss.
Fall Engagement Portraits in Stillwater, MN
The weather was a bit chilly (actually cold), it rained lightly from time to time. The sky was so heavily overcast that at times that it seemed like the sun had gone down more than an hour before it was supposed to. Unbelievably we started and finished Jay & Vanessa’s fall engagement photos in Stillwater, MN. They turned out really cool!
B&W with a little bit of color.
It’s been said many times before; “If you don’t like the weather in Minnesota, just stay another day.”
The day before for Luke & Ashley’s engagement portraits in the Chisago Lakes area, the weather was the complete opposite; sunny and warm. Not so much on this late Thursday afternoon. It was the first time this year I used the heat in our minivan “Big Red” while on my way to Stillwater, MN.
We met on the St. Croix Riverfront in downtown Stillwater, MN and Vanessa toughed it out while wearing a cute dress when we began their engagement session. She was a trouper, but when it came time to change clothes she was much warmer in outfit number two!
As dark as it was at times, I was able to use our Tamron SP 150-600MM F/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens a fair amount of the time and that was mostly to the credit of our Canon 5D Mark III camera. The Canon 5D Mark III really excels in low light situations. I really like to use the Tamron lens whenever I can because of the way it isolates our clients from their backgrounds.
Almost there.
Engagement Pictures At The St. Croix Boom Site
We walked to several areas in downtown Stillwater and then got in our cars and headed north to the St. Croix Boom Site area for a walk on the shores of the St. Croix River (hopefully) before it got too dark. I love creating fall engagement portraits in Stillwater and this area is one of the reasons. It feels like your way up north, yet your right near the cities. Very pretty.
The caves at the St. Croix Boom Site.
There’s even one color infrared engagement portrait in there. I gave it a shot as the amount of near-infrared light getting through the heavy clouds was in serious doubt! A little tiny bit got through as evident in the reds in the trees.
Some near-infrared light got through!
Watch Me Pull A Rabbit Out Of My Hat
Jay & Vanessa’s final fall engagement pictures in Stillwater were taken in near total darkness at a spot that we saw while we were driving to the St. Croix Boom Site. We saw two small sugar maples in full fall colors near ground level. We arrived there just as it started to rain a bit harder, I quickly set up several Canon Speedlites to light up the leaves in the trees and a couple more to spotlight Jay & Vanessa. Purely experimental in creating a “fake” sunset in the leaves. I think it worked really, really well! I love them!
Fall fun!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the sneak peek at Jay & Vanessa’s fall engagement pictures in Stillwater, MN. Jay and Vanessa will be getting married next June at a brand new venue in New Richmond, Wisconsin. We’re very excited to be their wedding photographers!