Snowy Shaver Lake Engagement Session | Maddie & Zach
Maddie & Zach’s Shaver Lake Engagement Session was full of one thing: adventure.
When we chatted with them about their engagements, Maddie had a clear vision in mind. She and Zach had spent years coming up to the same cabin near the lake, and had made such fond memories running through the meadow behind it with their dogs. She described to me the gorgeous scenery that the meadow had during the winter in particular, and we were on board.
I’d never been up to Shaver Lake, and Joseph had only been once for a bachelor party, so that left us super uninformed to what we would find when we made our way up there. Seeing as Shaver is four hours from where we live in San Luis Obispo, we didn’t have the opportunity to come scout the area out before the session. I told Maddie and Zach to come prepared for an adventure, and that is exactly what ensued.
We arrived at, to our surprise, a snow-covered Shaver Lake on a sunny day, and immediately got excited for the wintry scene we would have for our photos. These two are the best and showed up totally prepared to just be themselves and have fun. They were excited for the opportunity to simply love on each other for a few hours (and boy did that time fly as we chatted all about life!!).
The meadow we kicked off the session in was absolutely perfect. An untouched blanket of snow filled the space between the expanse of pine trees and made the perfect backdrop in the early afternoon sun. These two dressed to the nines, and their black outfits popped perfectly with the snowy landscape.
After spending some solid time at the meadow, we were in store for an adventure. Joseph and I arrived a little early to scout out some potential spots, and we took a gamble on a location on the opposite side of the lake, just off the main road. Maddie & Zach came excited for an adventure (our kind of people), and we all began trekking on a snow-covered trail.
About a mile in we found the most beautiful overlook of Shaver Lake as the sun was beginning to set behind the peak across the lake. It was so magical: covered in a light layer of snow & sparkling in the evening sunlight. Maddie & Zach were incredible, hiking, climbing rocks, and trudging through snow banks to make their vision for their engagement session happen.
It was the most fun, light-hearted afternoon, and days like these make us want to shoot so much more in and around the Sierra Nevada. We are beyond excited to be a part of these two’s Fresno wedding in the fall and have more time to hang out with them!
