I am convinced that predicting the weather is one part science, two parts random chance.

If there any weather people out there reading this and are offended, I apologize. But come on, guys, really? Can you really accurately predict the weather, especially in East Tennessee, more than 10 minutes in advance?

That’s the way it seemed the day we were supposed to shoot Erik and Katy’s engagement session a few weeks ago. It was a session that we had been looking forward to for a while, simply because of how special Kady and her family are to us. We’ve known them for over 10 years, virtually the entire time we have lived in Knoxville. Katy’s parents, John and Anne, were our Bible Fellowship teachers years ago and Katy babysat our son Grant several times when he was small. So we were thrilled when Katy asked us to photograph her wedding to Erik.

And we were equally excited about their engagement shoot. Avid hikers and outdoor people, Katy and Erik wanted to do their shoot in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in and around the Cades Cove area. Sounded great to us, since there are so many beautiful scenic spots there.

But on the day of the shoot, the weather was a bit schizophrenic, to put it mildly. It rained for 20 minutes, then cleared up, then the clouds came back and it rained a bit more. All the while, the radar looked ominous, but all the weather people kept predicting that it would be great. Finally, early in the afternoon, after calling it off, we decided to give it a go.

And boy, were we glad we did. We did get a lot of sun, but there were some magnificent clouds and the soft light and warm colors they produced were just amazing. Just what we were hoping for, after all. Enjoy.