Door County's Crossroads at Big Creek | Libby and Alex's Winter Engagement Session

I was already excited to photograph Libby and Alex’s wedding next September at Woodwalk Gallery, but now I really can’t wait following their winter engagement session! It’s extremely important that your personalities mesh with your photographer, and I knew right away that we were going to have a blast.

Crossroads at Big Creek is one of my favorite locations to shoot because of its natural diversity, it’s where I personally got married, and it’s only a 5 minute drive from my house; it checks all my boxes! On the other hand, Libby and Alex had never been there before, it’s a long car ride, and it snowed most of the day (checks none of their boxes). Nonetheless, they arrived with big smiles and were ready to rock and roll.

Most couples aren’t used to being photographed, so our first goal is to learn more about each other and get comfortable with the camera. We talked about how they met, their careers, their two cats, and their cat-parenting methods :)

We found a clearing in the trail, and Alex showed off his police-academy-strength. Libby was impressed (or at least I was), and she rewarded him with a kiss.

We find my second favorite footbridge, and I was surprised that the railing wasn’t too wet from our snowfall. It was a bit slick, but Libby climbed up and give Alex another big kiss.

To this point we’ve spent a lot of time getting comfortable, but now it was time to get uncomfortable. We started with a nice kissing shot to show off Libby’s shinny engagement ring, and then I had them hold hands and yell their favorite curse word as loud as they could. Luckily the Packer game was going on, so no one was around to hear us!

We reached my favorite footbridge, and I like it so much because there’s a subtle overhead clearing that gently spotlights my couples. The lighting is much more dramatic than the last bridge, don’t you think? When we left the bridge, I asked Libby and Alex what was the first word that came to their mind when they thought about their future mother-in-laws. Alex was confident with his answer, but it took Libby an uncomfortably long time to blurt out “HELPFUL!” We all lost it!

Libby and Alex brought their red throw blanket from home, and had a fun time wrapping each other up!

We walked over to the historic buildings, but we didn’t find anything worth working with. Instead, Libby and Alex took turns sharing the story of how they met. Alex would say one sentence, Libby would say the next, then Alex, then Libby….. We finished our time at Door County’s Crossroads at Big Creek with a warm mug of hot chocolate.

We still had half an hour for our engagement session, so we drove down the road to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Lighthouse. On a nice day, you can walk all the way down the jetty to the lighthouse. However, it was much too wavy and dangerous (we don’t mess with Lake Michigan). We stayed on shore and set up in what we thought was a dry spot (keyword is thought). After a few romantic shots, a large wave crashed and submerged our feet with icy water. With a yelp of surprise, we scampered back to safety and remembered how exciting it is to be alive.

We made one last stop along the canal hiking trail. Although Libby and Alex are one the lucky couples who never had to date long distance, I had them pretend like they haven’t seen each other in 3 months. With their emotional inspiration fired up, they gave each other one last hug from behind before wrapping up our session.

Alex and Libby, thank you so much for sharing a snowy day with me, and I can’t wait for your September Door County wedding!