Ember Chalet
Ember Chalet
From first light to last ember, some of the best memories are made between the cold outside and the warmth waiting inside.
I’ve always thought sand on a beach and snow on the ground have a similar effect on people. As a photographer, I’ve met fitness models who loved the idea of a beach session until their feet touched the sand. I’ve photographed bodybuilders who wanted the dramatic look of a snow session—until they imagined standing barefoot in it.
They want the scenery and the photographs. Then comes the question: “Wait, I have to put my feet in that?”
I understand. Snow is cold. But I can’t help smiling when someone who can sit through a twenty-minute ice bath or cryotherapy draws the line at a few moments in the snow.
We take the conditions seriously. When the winter air drops into the upper 20s with strong winds, we don’t shoot. Most of our snow sessions happen around freezing or a little warmer, while the snow is still on the ground.
After an hour or two outside, almost everyone agrees on the best part: getting back to the cabin or lodge.
Coming in from the cold
Open the door and the whole mood changes. The mountain air stays outside. Inside there’s warmth, wood, maybe a blanket and a fire settling into its last glowing embers. Someone makes hot cocoa. The coffee drinkers pour a cup—and those camp coffee memories have their own candle, Jim’s First Cup.
That transition is where Ember Chalet lives: the scent of the outdoors meeting the warmth of a retreat. It carries the pleasure of finishing a session, warming up, and hoping the memory card is full of photographs we’re proud of.
Our mountain sessions have included more than fitness. We’ve photographed portraits, couples, fashion, and lingerie in the snow. Some people call the last one an “outdoor boudoir” shoot. Whatever brought us there, we came back inside with stories to tell and a new appreciation for a warm place to sit.
More than a snow day
We’ve also made photographs around cabins on warm days that turned into cool evenings. The fresh mountain air feels different from city life. You slow down, breathe deeper, and let the quiet stay awhile.
That feeling takes me back to my Boy Scout years. Cabins were a luxury; most nights we slept in tents. Morning meant trees, cool air, a campfire stirring again, and the troop leaders finding their coffee. Those memories helped inspire the story behind Jim’s First Cup.
Years later, the camping trips, cabin photo sessions, cold afternoons, coffee, and fireside evenings began to feel like chapters of the same story.
Quiet Cabin is the arrival: stepping away from the noise, breathing in the woods, and settling into the escape. Ember Chalet comes later. The temperature falls. The fire glows. The drinks are poured. The stories get longer, and everyone moves a little closer to the warmth.
It’s the clean air you brought in with you, the comfort you found inside, and the satisfaction of a day well spent. When you finally settle in, there’s nowhere else you need to be.
From first light to last ember… Ember Chalet brings you home at the end of the day.
Light it. Warm up. Stay awhile.
Keep the story going
Begin with Morning Light, escape with Quiet Cabin, and pair your fireside moment with Jim’s First Cup. Explore the full sequence in A Day in Scent.
Every Candle Has a Story.™