You know that one relative who always wants to take photos? They might be the person with a pretty nice camera who always has it with them, or maybe they just love the camera on their phone and are always asking people to pose for it. Well, I’m here to tell you that sometimes, having that relative be your mom really pays off in the long run!

Photographing Kait and Ashton for their engagement session was an absolute dream come true. Ashton’s mom has an enthouiasm for photography and basically already did all the work of teaching these two about posing and how to get a great portrait. Both Kait and Ashton are naturals in front of the lens and looking through their lovely engagement photos you'd never know that Kait was actually in recovery from a foot injury that had occurred only weeks prior!

Kait is a HUGE fan of snow. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. Ashton lovingly told me this adorable story of how she practically leapt out of bed in the middle of the night when the PNW was blessed with this past white Christmas. She was out there catching snow flakes with her tongue and loving every minute and every flake.

Naturally then, she opted for an engagement session on the top of Mount Hood, the one guaranteed spot for snow near Portland.

Driving up to Mount Hood it was a rather rainy and very cloudy day in the valley, so I was a bit nervous that our planned winter wonderland might just in fact be a big ugly slush fest, but Hood had my back, and as soon as my Jeep’s tires reached the base parking lot up at Timberline the rain drops turned to snowflakes, the clouds began to roll back showing off the view and I knew we were in for a treat!

Hiking up behind the historical lodge, we found a fairly secluded spot to start the engagement session. Ashton was the perfect gentleman, even giving Kait a piggy back ride as he helped her up to the flat area that would be our base for the majority of the session.

I had a blast photographing these two as they shared with me their history as a couple and laughing about Ashton’s proposal on hike which ended up being much more intense than originally planned.

Swapping their comfy warm clothes for something a little more bold, Kait was a trooper in a fairly thin but totally gorgeous floral dress as the wind started to kick up and the temperature dropped.

On the way back down the mountain we pulled off the road at a campsite and I got to meet their two adorable dogs who had been patiently waiting in the car between photo sets.

It was a dream day on Mount Hood and it makes me so very excited for Kait and Ashton’s wedding at Postelwaits Country Weddings this spring!

Enjoy this little selection of images from Ashton and Kait’s engagement session and leave a comment of congratulations for them in the comments below!