A few weeks ago, I went on the most wonderful adventure with Nicki and David (and Baby David!) to Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, for their sunrise maternity session! Despite living in Kansas/Missouri nearly my entire life, I’ve never been to this part of Kansas. Guys, the Flint Hills are absolutely gorgeous! I totally recommend a visit, but maybe wait until it’s a bit warmer 🙂

Ironically, Nicki and David have only lived in Kansas for a few months, and they have already crossed the Flint Hills off their bucket list! I feel so behind…

Nicki and David chose Cottonwood Falls for the area’s beautiful waterfall and lake features. There sure aren’t any water features like this in Kansas City! We knew that it would be iffy on whether or not the waterfalls would be running at this time of year, but we had a limited window when we could take these photos, so we charged ahead with our plan!

As we suspected, the waterfalls were not yet flowing when we arrived at the lake outside of Cottonwood Falls for our session. We also had an overcast sunrise, but no matter! One of my favorite things about photographing portraits is finding absolutely beautiful backgrounds and compositions in unlikely places. A near-freezing, overcast lake may deter some, but this was my happy place 🙂

Nicki and David were absolute troopers and powered through our 37° session. They didn’t even have shoes on and you know that ground was cold. In between photos we threw on our coats and jumped into the car to stay warm. You’d never know it from Nicki’s graceful poses and natural smiles that she was shivering in between shots! David just tried to pretend that the cold didn’t exist. Baby David, on the other hand, had the best (warmest) seat in the house!

Below are some of my favorite photos from our session; enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations again to Nicki and David! I loved getting to be a part of this wonderful time in your lives, and I absolutely can’t wait to meet Davie Baby!!