Traverse City Engagement Session Along Lake Michigan | Carrie and Jeff

Carrie and Jeff’s Traverse City engagement session along Lake Michigan comes in as one of my favorite engagement sessions to date. With all three of us living in southeastern Michigan, we set the date for their northern Michigan engagement session a couple months in advance for an early April day, crossing our fingers for good weather. But as early spring often is in Michigan, the weather turned slightly unpredictable. Nonetheless, Carrie and Jeff made the trip up to their cabin in Traverse City, and I drove up the next day. We had originally planned for an evening session, but with rain in the forecast for the afternoon and evening, I came up early to take advantage of a small window in between rain storms.

We started the Traverse City engagement session in downtown Traverse City at Clinch Park and worked through some sprinkling rain. It was windy and chilly but Carrie and Jeff took it like champs and embraced it. Soon enough, the rain stopped altogether! We worked our way through Clinch Park, onto the docks, and down to the beach where Carrie and Jeff even agreed to go for a quick dip into the freezing Lake Michigan! 

About 45 minutes into the 2 hour Traverse City engagement session, we bundled up and drove to their lake house where Carrie and Jeff changed into their second outfit. After warming up a bit, we finished off our time together with photos in their backyard overlooking the water. Overall, despite the cold and windy weather, we all had a blast and the result was beautiful. I love how Jeff’s rust colored shirt popped against the gray skies of the day.

While I usually schedule engagement sessions around the sunset in the case it’s a clear, sunny day, cloudy overcast days, despite what many people think, are amazing for photos! The cloudy skies act like a natural diffuser, softening the light of the sun and eliminating any direct light overhead which can result in shadows. Overcast skies make for a very neutral, flattering light and backdrop for any session or wedding day (and created the perfect backdrop for this Traverse City engagement shoot). 

If you like Carrie and Jeff’s Traverse City engagement session along Lake Michigan, check out Sam and Holden’s snowy engagement photos along Lake Huron for another example of how embracing the weather can lead to the most special and fun engagement pictures! (It’s also another example of why Michigan’s Great Lakes are such a great place to visit for any session).