Winter, I’ve decided, is just a difficult time. The drop in energy and motivation among my fellow Gutenberg students and I has been palpable; we’re (almost) all coming to class with droopy eyes and not-quite-finished homework. Not to mention the fact that it is just downright cold; my little room, in particular, seems to reflect the temperature of the outdoors. (I was warned.)

All in all, winter is a tough season to get through. But it is also home to, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful light available to a photographer. Because, although I have heard winter decried as being too dark or too wet to serve photos well, I personally love the portraits I have taken under winter’s overcast skies or in the kind of cold, clear, sunshine only it can offer.

For example: two weeks ago, I went to the home of Marianne and Andrew. Marianne graduated from Gutenberg a couple of years ago and now lives in the Portland area with her husband and their two sons, Søren and Elliot. I did not know Marianne very well while she was at Gutenberg, but I was nonetheless excited when she contacted me about a family portrait session. It turns out that excitement was well founded, because she and Andrew are both incredibly kind and welcoming, and they and their kids were a blast to work with.

It rained much of the day we had their portrait session, but we were able, during a brief break, to shoot outside in the soft, beautiful light that the overcast sky gave us. And, because Marianne and Andrew have big, beautiful windows, we were able to take advantage of the winter light indoors as well.

And so, although winter is, on the whole, a dreary season, we really must give it credit for having such beautiful light. It’s just hard to remember that on some of those droopy-eyed-classroom mornings—but I will try.

(If you’d like, you can visit my Flickr stream to see a few more photos from this session.)