Minnesota is home to four seasons! So if you’re wondering what season you should choose for your session, here’s a nifty guide!
Spring
- Background colors will range from browns in early spring to greens at the end of spring. We may even have a touch of white if we get April snow.
- There most likely will be mud, especially after the snow thaw.
- Average temps:
- St. Cloud will range between 30s-40s in March, 40s to 60s in April, and 60s to 70s in May
- Minneapolis averages 40s in March, 50s in April and 60s in May
- Spring sessions are best for pups who love mud, dogs with double coats or thick coats, smoosh faced dogs, and all dogs in between!
Summer
- Background colors will be a variety of greens, with assorted pops of color from flowers. Everything will be lush!
- Average temps:
- St. Cloud will range in the 70s to 80s in June, 80s in July and 80s to 70s in August
- Minneapolis averages 70s in June, 80s in July and 80s in August
- Summer sessions are great for short coated dogs, active dogs and many dogs in general. Those with smoosh faces and double or thick coats will want to have a session in the morning as it will be cooler (we don’t want any pups getting heatstroke!). Morning sessions start at sunrise which means 5:30 am in June, 5:30 to 6 am in July, 6 to 6:30 am in August. This is also a great time to go to the lake, river or creek for your dog’s session!
Fall
- Background colors will range from green to vibrant leaf color to browns depending on if we are in early fall or late fall. We could potentially get white if there is early snow – October & November can both produce snow!
- Average temps:
- St. Cloud will range from 70s to 60s in September, 60s to 40s in October, 40s to 30s in November.
- Minneapolis averages 70s in September, 50s in October, 40s in November.
- Fall sessions are the favorite. They come with comfortable temperatures and bold colors as the leaves turn (early October peak for St. Cloud, mid October peak for the Twin Cities). All dogs will be comfortable throughout the fall, though if early fall is warm then double coated dogs and smoosh face ones might be prone to overheat. And if the temps drop in late fall dogs with thin coats might get chilly.
Winter
- Backgrounds are going to range from browns to semi white to white pending on amount of snow on the ground and trees.
- Average temps:
- St. Cloud will range from 30s to 20s in December, in the 20s in January and 20s in February.
- Minneapolis averages 20s in December, 20s in January and 20s in February
- Winter sessions are great for double coated dogs and dogs that love to adventure in the snow. Temps can swing quite aggressively from subzero to 30s in the span of a week which makes winter trickier to schedule sessions in. My general rule of thumb is if the temp is 20 degrees or less we won’t have a session for the comfort of everyone at the session (we don’t want any frostbitten bits!). If you really really really want snow for your session, we may have to look into northern Minnesota – Duluth, Grand Rapids, Bemidji etc – as they tend to get a solid dumping of snow each winter.
Tons of options for the various seasons spring through winter!
Btw if you’re opting for an urban background we won’t have to worry about seasons as much. Spring through fall will be similar, possibly with a few leaves in the fall. Winter will have bits of snow and may be the only indicator that we did the session in winter in an urban setting. That and if your dog is wearing a jacket haha!
For locations other than urban, spring, summer and fall will be the easiest time to reach and stroll through various sized parks. If we get a good dumping of snow then we may not have the same accessibility beyond the plowed parking lot. (Wear boots and snowpants!)
Thinking of being in the pictures with your dog? Spring through fall will be the most comfortable. You’ll be able to wear nice shoes, and spiffy outfits that won’t be too cold. If you want to be in the pictures with your dog in winter, snag yourself cute boots, wear warm pants and an adorable sweater. We’ll do the coat disrobe when we get to the location we’ll use – hand me your coat, we’ll get pictures and quickly put your coat back on. Also bring gloves! You can take them off for pictures and put them back on as we stroll. We don’t want any fingers to fall off from the cold!
Now that you’ve picked your season, have you picked your location?
Here are our favorite locations in St. Cloud and the Twin Cities area!
Wait!!!
WEATHER!
Ok so weather isn’t a season, but it is something to to consider along with times of day. Now we can’t order certain weather but this will give you an idea on what to expect.
Cloudy
If it is cloudy, we can literally go EVERYWHERE! There will be no excessively bright light, no weird dappled shadows, the sky is a giant even light source. Full cloud cover means we won’t have a good sunset. In fact we likely will merely notice that it is getting darker with no color in the sky.
Sorta Cloudy
Some clouds in the sky is ideal for sunsets, especially if the horizon is clear. If there is a space below the clouds that will allow the setting sun to tickle the underbelly of the clouds. We’ll get oranges, pinks, possibly purple blue shadowing. Pre sunset, clouds will give the sky texture. A few clouds or a sky covered in them, as long as we get that peek of sunshine it doesn’t matter how many are scattered in the sky.
No Clouds
Sunset and sunrise will be pretty, turning from a gradient of orange to blue. (See the image of Moe sitting in the lake above.) Very pretty, but a bit lackluster without a tickling of clouds. No clouds also means our golden hour (2 hours before sunset) will be very bright and golden. We will have ample light, long shadows, epic backlit that tickles whiskers and bugs too!
Sunrise & Calm Water
If you want those glorious calm water and reflection images on the lake, we need to aim for early in the morning. (There’s a golden hour in the morning too!). Wind classically kicks up later in the morning or afternoon. Occasionally the water will be mirror calm at sunset, though it is harder to predict than calm water at sunrise.
Windy
We can work with windy. I’ll opt to leave the lighting at home and we’ll rock with natural light. Long or wispy haired dogs are going to get a delightful windblown look, ears will take flight and long grass will have loads of movement. If you’re going to be in the pictures, we will try to keep your hair from blowing across your face for portraits, but anything goes for candid images.
Snow
Snow is MEGA pretty! We can’t order it so we will do our best to work with it. If you really, really, really want falling snow pictures I will put you on an on call list during the winter. When it starts snowing, I’ll give you a call and we’ll have your session on short notice. If you’re in St. Cloud we can be shooting within an hour. In the Twin Cities it will be a couple of hours as I will have to make my way there. If the temp is 20 degrees and up we’ll head into the snow. (See the notes on Winter above.)
Rain
If we are shooting and there is a light mist or very light rain that shows up, we will work with it. If we know it is suppose to rain for the day, or rain later in the day we will reschedule for a different day with no rain. I will get ahold of you 2 hours before your session to reschedule if it looks like rain so neither of us is in route to the session location. We can reschedule as many times as needed if we hit a series of rainy days.
Don’t Feel Good
Ok, def not a weather or season, but worth noting. If you don’t feel good, please let me know as soon as possible and we will reschedule when you feel better. If I don’t feel good, I will let you know right away in the morning that we will be rescheduling. I don’t want you to be the walking dead during your session (as much as I appreciate zombies). Let’s not share yucky germs!