First off, this IS NOT a blog about the monster hit song released in 1972 by Deep Purple...Nope...This story originated 2,300 miles from the actual shoot location and our clients were so much fun and the extraordinary lighting and environment that nature provided was sublime, that I just had to write a blog about our day together.

Enter our beautiful couple Sydny & Scott: Sydny called many months prior to summer and asked about having us do an engagement session for them. After going through our usual "getting-to-know-you" conversations, calendars, and what she was looking for in photography, I asked Sydney where she was calling from. She answered, "Houston". I gasped and smiled at the same time because Bella and I were actually in our studio in The Woodlands, just north of Houston when she called! OK, so that's not the coolest part. I asked her where she would like to do the engagement shoot and she said that she and Scott were going to go visit a Bavarian town in the Cascade mountains in Washington state called Leavenworth!!!

WHAT?! For reals?! (For those of you readers who don't know this, our main studio is in Leavenworth, WA and we expanded in 2016 to add a studio in The Woodlands (N. Houston) Texas as well.

Seriously. What are the odds??

So, naturally we just had to meet up in the Houston area, which we did and it didn't take long for Bella and I to feel that the chemistry was right. (We just love learning about our couples, how they met, what are their aspirations, etc.)

Fast forward to August. Bella and I picked up Sydney and Scott in Leavenworth and whisked them off to Lake Chelan for their engagement shoot session.

We love shooting at Tsillan Cellars Winery on the south shore of Lake Chelan and always get fun and romantic shots there. The owner, Bob Jenkelson, has brought his passion for Italy, people, great wine & food and built a Tuscan Villa on the sunny hillside. 

The second location is a secret spot that Bella and I discovered while exploring for good places to shoot.

So, what's up with the title being called "Smoke on the Water"?

Well, August in the central cascade range in Washington also can mean fire season....and this August was no exception. In fact, Washington state was surrounded/inundated by smoke from forest fires in Redding, CA, northern Oregon, our own Lost Creek and Entiat fires, and most of the province of British Columbia, Canada.

One of the byproducts of all that smoke, in addition to horrible air quality, are outrageous sunsets! Hey, nature was doing her thing so we made lemonade out of the situation.

The following photos capture a glimpse of the love and laid-back vibe that Sydney and Scott brought to the shoot....in spite of all of us smelling like we had been standing near a big campfire........cause we kind of were!!

The smoke also posed unique challenges for Bella to shoot in but she always figures out ways to get the MONEY SHOTS! She even got inspired to create another custom preset/filter for some of her post-production finishes.

Enjoy!