Emily and Jake | Lake Dillon Engagement
Savannah Chandler Photography | Keystone Engagement Photographer

It’s finally almost summer, and all the ice is melting here in the Colorado high country. Just the day before I met Emily and Jake for their Lake Dillon engagement session, IT SNOWED. The Breckenridge area got almost a foot of snow in the higher elevations – on May 23. Being a fifth generation Coloradan, I’ve never surprised by large spring snow storms. I get a little perturbed that I can’t yet go 4×4’ing in the jeep yet and that all the high alpine lakes are still too cold to SUP in, but never surprised anymore.

Once we took a look at the weather report the week of their session, I’m so incredibly glad that we moved our session back by a day. We got amazing sunlight, and no snow on the ground. Down near Lake Dillon, the weather was quite pleasant. A balmy 60* or so, with no winds. We headed out towards where dock #3 used to be, only to be (not so pleasantly) surprised that they had torn out the dock with the addition of the new Dillon Amphitheater. It looks like quite the amazing location for a concert, but the beautiful dock that I loved photographing on is no more. Nevertheless, we headed out onto the sandy beaches of the Lake Dillon Marina and walked around in the sunlight for some portraits.

Jake has just moved to Colorado this past February (during one of our worst winters in recent memory of course) – and he wanted to visit a lovely “top down” mountain view. We headed up to Swan Lake road, which has a stunning overlook at the summit. As we walked towards the summit trail at Sapphire point, he made a comment that this was the most beautiful place he’d ever seen. I love when couples have a moment during our time together that means something to them – and I hope that every time they look back at their photographs they are reminded of those special moments.

Although there was a lot of sun, once we were at 9,500 elevation, it was quite chilly. The temps dropped into the low 40’s. Just as the sun was dipping over the Ten Mile range in the background, we headed to the Mustang to get Jake and Emily warm. I’m incredibly warm blooded, so it’s very easy for me to forget how cold out it really is ;). As the clouds began to turn colors, I asked Emily and Jake to place my flash inside their vehicle so we could get some photographs in Jake’s coveted ‘Stang. I’ve since been told that those are his favorite images.

Thank you, Emily and Jake, for adventuring around Summit County with me! I can’t wait to work with Sweetly Paired Events for your wedding in Granby next January!