Lauren and I met up at the Stone House at Manassas National Battlefield on an absolutely frigid day in January. It started snowing sideways as soon as we arrived, and while we had both hoped for a nice coating of snow on the ground, an active, windy snowfall was a bit much.
After the first few shots, l thought we’d have to call it off because my fingers were so cold I could barely push the buttons on my camera. We decided to power through for a little longer.
Thankfully, we were rewarded when the sun broke free of the clouds just in time to give us a stunning sunset. The beautiful light here was well worth enduring the cold.
We wandered through several locations near the Stone House, and the atmosphere in each spot shifted, thanks to the changing light. I edited each group of photos slightly differently; no one will probably notice but me, and that’s fine.
Our session finished up with a wooden chair as a prop and a pinky-purple sky as the sun dropped below the horizon.
I’ll pretend our tolerance of the cold was a lesson in perseverance and not stubbornness. But I know the truth.
As a post-script, I love the Stone House and the fields of the Manassas battlefields as portrait locations in Northern Virginia. During our session, we even saw another photographer taking family photos, so I don’t think I’m alone in my recommendation. If you’d like to schedule a session–family photos, couples photos, individual photos, whatever you want–please visit the contact page and send me a message.