I had a pretty good feeling Michelle and Kris were going to sign with me after our first meeting. I mean, when you discover you’ve been chatting for two hours, it’s a sign you’ve definitely made a connection. We just spent the entire time laughing and occasionally even talking about wedding photography.

On Saturday, we went out to the Lexington Country Club, where they’ll be having their reception this summer. Now, the grounds didn’t look anything like they will at the wedding, what with the fresh blanket of snow on the ground. We thought it would be fun to show their guests what the place they’re going to get married at looks like at this time of year.

Of course the first thing I did as soon as I got out there was to realize I’d planted a flash in the snow. Didn’t keep it from working, but did keep my hands frozen solid anytime I held the thing. We ended up taking about 45 minutes worth of shots before the battery died– in frigid temperatures, batteries drain faster. (The guys who shoot Green Bay Packers games usually tape those chemical handwarmer packets to their battery grips so that they can shoot the whole game.)

We took some by some classic Kentucky stone fencing , then moved to the back and went out on to the golf course in the open space, to take a few walking and talking images, some shots on a stone bench, you get the idea. Afterwards, we went into the clubhouse so that they could show me the space. When I saw the ballroom, I was in heaven. It was still set up from the night before, but what I immediately saw was floods of beautiful, focused lights coming in from the big arched windows on the left. I quickly got them into the center of the room and squeezed off a few last frames with the last juice in the battery.

We’re talking about doing a shoot out of town with them for their real engagement session, as Kris lives in Boston these days, and we might even be able to get some of those night shots I’ve been dying to do. I can’t wait to take more images with this fun and engaging couple!