When the forecast calls for 100% rain, it’s not out of the ordinary that people get a little worried about their photo sessions.

We plan time out of all our schedules, usually carving out time out of a weekend, and are forced to just cross our fingers hoping for the best.

Now amplify that when it’s a destination, since I can’t realistically fly right back out the next weekend.

On that note- clients should know- I don’t reschedule. Yes, yes… That sounds mean, but even when the session is in my home town, it’s a hard no. It’s not that I’m mean or not understanding, or the fact that it’s nearly impossible to do so at certain times of the year… it’s that I feel like we could be robbing ourselves on exactly what that session was meant to be. 

So, when Teri had looked at the weather and called me about plans- I was SO PROUD when she said they’d be down to roll with the bad weather if it came around.

The day of our photo shoot came and guess what?

NO RAIN.

We headed to Olmsted Falls prepared for freezing weather and possibly getting soaked. (This gal was even extra prepared with a clear umbrella, too.)

Now you could scroll down and peek at all the photos and think it might not have been that cold. You’d be wrong. They were just gracious enough to take off the bulky jackets for photos. 

The walking helped a bit… but I was the one wearing a full jacket and I was still shivering. What I was seeing on the back of the camera was totally worth it, though.

We walked around the little town, over the train tracks to a stationary locomotive display *(okay, that’s probably not what they call it, but you get the idea right? Little piece of a train, not moving, and totally cute.) and it happened to be right next to Italian Restaurant called Matteo’s.

*(not pictured? Us devouring some delicious Italian food there at Matteo’s after the first half of the shoot was over.)

The next half of the evening: We took night portraits with downtown Cleveland as the highlighted backdrop. Having never been to Cleveland, and I was so excited when these two were down to just hop around so I could see a few things and decide if we wanted to take a few photos as we went along.

The huge Cleveland sign was such a great spot, it’s probably a good thing we were nearly frozen with the wind whipping around us or I would have gotten more carried away with that city skyline looking perfect in the background. Not to mention that they finally told me about the guitars that were in the car. Um, yes I’ll be making you guys use them, thanks for adding more adorable romance.

Last but not least, we walked downtown on 4th Street to wrap things up. When Teri mentioned the string lights? I was sold even if it was supposed to be raining. There were puddles, string lights, and buildings to block the cold wind. I’d say it was a perfect end to our session.

We packed up all my gear into their car and actually got to go out and enjoy the rest of the night together. As we were sitting in an Irish pub, we started seeing people come in (apparently from a KidRock concert?) covered in raindrops…

Yep.

It rained right after we finished. 

Well, we already had that cute clear umbrella…. so we went back to the car grabbed one more photo on the roof of the parking garage to take full advantage.

Lesson to be learned: take that deep breath when bad weather might hit- and figure out how you are going to handle it if it does. Things go SO much better if you focus on the whole reason you’re taking photos- to have memories to keep of a day spent with someone you love.

Teri & Derrick- thanks for braving the crazy weather and being prepared, I can’t wait to fly back in October!