Ashley & Clay

An Epic Winter Engagement | Lassen National Forest

I met Ashley’s mom numerous years ago when I started volunteering for our local Breast Cancer Awareness group, Nor-Cal Think Pink. It was soon after that I met her daughter, Ashley! A fun, loving, spunky girl who is super fun to be around. We hit it off and have been friends ever since! When she met Clay, I was so happy for her! They are perfect for each other. When I got the news that he finally popped the question, I was literally shouting “woo hoooo!!!” I can’t wait for their big day in June!!

Right after Ashley asked me to be her wedding photographer, we started planning their engagement session. I have always wanted to do a shoot up at Lassen National Park and when I mentioned it to her, they were totally up for the drive and a possible hike! However, shortly after we started picking some potential dates, the park closed the road for the winter… I was so bummed! But I figured we could still find some neat areas just off of the highway that would still be beautiful and have some snow. Then, Matt and I decided to take the kids up to the snow the week prior and we found this spot! A forest service road that weaved up to an overlook of Mt. Lassen! It was breathtaking! And I knew I had found the spot for their engagement session!

We stopped at a couple of spots along the way, the sun was out with some wispy clouds moving in and out which made the lighting gorgeous! We arrived at the top about 40 minutes before sunset. The wind was a little chilly, but Ashley & Clay are troopers!!! They trusted me so much that they just went along with anything I asked them to do! Even when that meant a trek up the hillside in her heeled boots… And it was epic! Mt. Lassen was their backdrop, snow glittered the ground, and green manzanita was scattered here and there. It was breathtaking! It was so peaceful up there on the mountainside. I could’ve stayed there for hours!

We stopped and enjoyed In-N-Out burger on the way back home! (Just for you Clay!!) Ashley let us know that as long as we have a burger and fries for Clay, he’ll do whatever we want him to do. Haha! She was just kidding of course, but we did have a great laugh at that. I mean, who doesn’t like a good burger and fries?

Ashley & Clay, I am so happy for you! I’m also proud of you both for enduring the cold temperatures during this shoot. You both are incredible people and I’m honored to be your friend and your photographer!

Love, Jen

Hey there! I just published a behind the scenes video from this Epic Engagement session! You can view it below! If you’d like to see more behind the scenes like this one, hit the thumbs up button, click subscribe and drop me a comment! Thanks everyone!