Maine photographer Erin Little says that up North, February and even March are the coldest and snowiest parts of the season. In honor of that, she decided to do a photo shoot showing off the beauty of those still-snowy months. Erin’s concept features two couples taking a weekend getaway and diving into Maine culture—sledding, snowshoeing, wearing warm L.L. Bean clothing, and eating delicious cocktails and home-style foods. We may be cruising into April, but looking at these photos we’re getting some serious nostalgia for winter.
It’s meant to show that in the hardest part of our long winters, we can still utilize what we have and feel refreshed and excited about what’s around us.
Erin typically shoots lifestyle images, and this shoot was a perfect representation of the sort of style she enjoys. “I have a very loose feeling to my photography,” she says, “even though all of it is greatly calculated.” For this jam-packed shoot, she had to put in a ton of planning to make sure everything was in place, but from there, she let the images come naturally, giving and taking cues from her models and capturing moments as they came.”
I prefer shooting people doing natural things and being in their environments in a natural way. I don’t like anything feeling too contrived.
I really enjoy just watching my subjects, engaging with them in a natural way, and capturing it all as it happens. Usually the results are authentic and free.
Erin says the biggest challenge for the project was just a tight time frame and a tight budget. Her first step was finding the perfect location for the getaway scene, which she found in a modern, off-the-grid camp on top of a mountain, inland from the mid-coast area. From there, she had to source local props, clothing, food, and talent. She also hired a stylist, Janice Dunwoody, who helped organize the props and even get some businesses to donate some great material for the shoot. Erin created all the mood boards and production booklets, and when it came time for the shoot, they were able to fit a whole weekend’s worth of winter activities into just one day! Erin says with all the time and effort it took, she was hoping it would be well worth everyone’s hard work, and it certainly was. They were able to capture the snowshoeing, sledding, cooking breakfast, making drinks, playing games, hanging out at the cabin–basically everything you could hope for in the ideal winter getaway.
The overall feeling you come away with after viewing all the images seems to be exactly what I was going for after getting feedback from everyone. I wanted it to be inspiring and motivate people to get out and enjoy the winter and have fun!
Erin is feeling great about the images, and hoping that they will be used in a spread that tells the complete visual story of these people who went out and enjoyed the snowy end of season.
To view more work by Erin, visit erinlittleportfolio.com.