Before I met with Elle for this shoot, it had been snowing on and off for nearly 24 hours. Our plan was to meet the day before, but road conditions weren’t safe enough to venture out. By the time we met to take these pictures, the type of snow coming down was in small flakes, making it possible to hang out for a good while. This shoot didn’t last more than 45 minutes and it was very much unplanned.

It's tempting to be discouraged by weather conditions; and it takes willpower to get over that hurdle; however, safety should be on top of the list at all times. If all precautions are considered, adverse weather can help you get some fascinating pictures! Taking portraits in the snow brings peaceful expressions, all thanks to reflective light bouncing from the ground to fill shadows and open up facial features.

Besides the beautiful flat light snowy weather brings, the chance to get creative with accessories and garments also makes taking pictures in the snow a little extra fun. I was attracted to the zebra lines and light pole in a parking lot nearby and thought it would give us a perfect opportunity for shooting action poses. The more photo shoots I do, the more I enjoy taking pictures of the subject losing up or interacting with the environment. These types of photos really have the ability to make a storyline.

We finished this shoot with me climbing on a wooden guard rail to take full-body portraits; it was how I best could place Elle in a blanc, seamless background. By the way, I recently watched in an art documentary how Michelangelo elongated his figures to offset the distortion made by the viewer's angle of view. It made me ask Elle to arch her back away from the camera, helping me minimize some of the distortion created by my camera lens. Click here to find Elle on Instagram,