This was our first time heading out to Kansas City for engagement pictures, and we’ll soon be back our for wedding photography this October! It was definitely pretty exciting to get out and see a new area, being able to explore a new area with fresh eyes not only allows me to try new things, but it’s kind of like when you watch an inspirational movie and you’re ready to take on the world, I’m able to bring this sort of excitement and energy back home and continue to try new things here even though I’m surrounded by familiarity. The engagement shoot was definitely challenging, the temperature was 5 degrees with windchill of -13. It was definitely the coldest shoot I’ve ever done, but when you’re six hours away from home, it’s not like you can simply reschedule for the next week, so the show had to go on. While my hands felt like they were going to fall off, it was definitely a shoot for the books. Clayton and Kelly pushed through the cold no problem and thankfully we had some snow on the ground too, this way in the pictures when they look cold, you can tell it obviously is cold. Some of these pictures ended up being my favorite because engagement pictures are all about capturing the love a couple has for each other and nothing says I love you like snuggling up with each other and with a temperature of 5 degrees, being close to each other not only worked for the pictures, but it also helped keep them warmer too. Win-Win.
The shoot started off at a ranch that Clayton helps out with, and with access to some horses and plenty of ground, we had some great opportunities for pictures. However, remember that -13 windchill? Being out in open pasture quickly became brutal, but again, Clayton and Kelly were awesome. We were able to create some pretty fun pictures of the two of them and had some great scenery to work with. After the ranch, it was about lunch time, we decided to grab a bite to eat and let our frozen bodies thaw a little bit before we made our way into the city for pictures. Maybe it’s because I’m not very familiar with KC, but I was at a loss of where to go the night before the shoot. Cities like Chicago, St. Louis, NYC, etc, they have something they are known for, Kansas City? I didn’t know of anything. It wasn’t until I started looking on google street view that I realized I’ve seen a lot of work from photographers who did pictures in Kansas City, the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts is quite an icon for photography, and I never realized this building was in Kansas City, this excited me greatly! Obviously this was stop number one for our city portion of the shoot. Now, you would think, being in the city and having buildings to block the wind… and with it being around noon that it would be warmer. Wrong! I think it got colder as the day went on, but still we pushed forward and we were able to create some amazing pictures downtown Kansas City and I couldn’t be happier with the way they turned out. I’m definitely looking forward to October for the wedding where we’ll see an even different part of Kansas City for pictures!
