Winter in St. Louis. Enough said, right? It could be four straight days of bitter cold, flurries, and gray skies, then BAM one nice, clear day where you can shed that heavy winter coat and put on a jacket and not freeze. Sure, it can be frustrating living in the midwest for this exact reason, but there’s something I love about being surprised by the weather (when it’s nice weather, that is).

My session with Josh and James was that diamond in the rough St. Louis weather type of day. It was sunny, clear skies, not too windy, and the temperature was in the low 50s. Not too shabby for a late December outdoor session!

The three of us met in the Delmar Loop for lunch and caravanned over to Washington University’s campus in Forest Park for their couples session. There was construction on the parking lot that we originally intended to meet on, so we ended up finding a parking garage nearby on campus instead. Well… let me tell you, this parking garage was a gem of a location in itself! We all agreed that we should start shooting the session in the garage. I love impromptu decisions and surprisingly great locations presenting themselves while on a shoot. I love a good element of surprise!

This parking garage was so uniquely beautiful, vertical lights framing the entrance, neat design elements, and the structure was overall more than just a parking garage.

We ventured around the campus and captured both the regal castle-y Hogwarts vibes along with more modern architecture. I love finding locations for my photo sessions that are versatile and can showcase the story you’re wanting to tell through photos.

I always tell my clients that versatility is the best way to get more bang for your buck. Not only with versatility of location, I also recommend bringing layers, or a couple different outfits for added versatility.

For winter photo shoots especially, I suggest bringing more layers than you think you’ll actually end up wearing,

1. so you can stay warm if it suddenly gets chilly (you never know in St. Louis)

2. you can change up a look by adding or removing just one layer and without having to change your entire outfit

For more tips on choosing what to wear for your couple’s photo session, check out my blog post on it here.

It was such a joy working with Josh and James on their couple’s session. They were so open to my ideas and down to explore. You can totally feel their openness to try new things together and overall joy in each other’s company in these photos. It was so much fun to work with the ideas they had for the session as well! Josh had one outfit that he wanted to wear that had a boarding school feel to it. And it fit so well amongst the castle-like buildings on campus. I love the collaborative nature of planning out photo shoots together and I always want whoever I’m working with to feel free to voice their ideas to me!