A lovely weekday portrait session with the Sperandio family getting together before daughter Madeline was going to be on deployment for several months. Rivers Edge Park is such a lovely, surprisingly secluded park right near downtown Columbia Falls that is perfect for portrait sessions and family picnics.
It's always such an honor when a friend asks me to take photos for their family. No matter the type of job, and when I know they have an enormous list of other photographers they could ask who would be overjoyed to do the work.
This was especially the case when my friend Sarah asked if I was available for senior portraits for her daughter Alma. Alma wanted something outdoors, and just pretty relaxed. So that's what we did.
What's better than a perfect fall night, Glacier National Park, a lovely couple, and wrapping up with some Ice Cream at Eddie's afterward? Not a whole lot when it comes to a portrait session it would seem.
If you've read my blog before you may recognize Unique & Luke from their spring wedding at Snowline Acres in Kalispell.
They still really wanted some epic portraits in Glacier National Park as part of a "day after" adventure portrait session. The thing about Glacier though, is that in May, not very much of the park is typically accessible. So right away we made plans to meet up later in the summer to capture the amazing mountain portraits they wanted. Thankfully, we experienced a relatively smoke-free in August, and everything from the sky to the wildlife performed beautifully for their portraits.
Editors Note: The header image above ended up on the cover of the 2023 My Montana Wedding magazine. You can read it online here, or pick it up for free at any number of locations here in the Flathead Valley.
The Korpela family reunion I was fortunate to be invited to photograph followed a similar theme to so many large family gatherings I photographed in 2022. That the occasion was the first time everyone had been able to get together in one place, at the same time, in at least two years due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It's always so fun to be a part of these large gatherings.
My favorite part of this particular portrait session though was eventually winning over the youngest member of the family. For the first 30 or 40 minutes she didn't want anything to do with this stranger in their midst taking everyone's photos. But after giving her some space, and having her race her brother to see who was fastest she warmed up and did a complete 180 from before, totally taking control of the session and art directing a good portion of the photos that came afterward.
Hey everybody, meet Aspen, Class of '23. Aspen is a badass softball player, you don't want to mess with her. Especially when this senior absolutely rocked a chilly August morning and a 4:30 am wake-up call to make this sunrise happen.
The idea of "day after" portrait sessions seemed to have gained steam over the last several years. At least here in Northwest Montana where you might be getting married at a particular venue, but still want portraits done in Glacier National Park.
What may not be as popular, but just as sound in terms of destination wedding planning, is the "day before" session. Natasha and Aaron were traveling from out of state, and the way the travel schedule was working out, plus just the basic logistics of hair & makeup, etc. we opted to schedule their portraits in the National Park the day before their wedding at Whitefish Mountain Resort.
It was a perfect opportunity to spend some time getting to know each other in person, while also getting some of the wedding day and portrait jitters out of the way ahead of time, and it worked out beautifully.
Nothing like a simple and relaxed family portrait session in and around West Glacier. We kept this one pretty relaxed and informal with the little one because it's pretty easy to get tired of smiling for the camera (this applies to grown-ups sometimes too.)
This was one of my favorite days all summer, even though it was very much my longest day of work. My previous post featured Natalia & Ben's sunrise Glacier National Park portrait session. Well, that very same day I got to hang out with Paige & Chris again for their adventure session. It truly was a day that cemented in my head why I love doing what I do. The weather was perfect and we simply took our time meandering our way through the park and stopping when the opportunity presented itself. Prior to that, we did stop just outside the park to take some photos with their dog who was unable to attend their wedding day. That way he could be let off leash briefly which is generally frowned upon when inside the park, and explicitly denied on trails.
Paige & Chris once again proved themselves to be more kind than I could've imagined, and I can't wait for our paths to cross again.
Northwest Montana is an almost unbelievably beautiful place, and Glacier National Park is a perfect illustration of that. And sunrise pretty much anywhere usually provides really great light for photography. That said, in this part of the world devotion to that morning light comes at a cost. The cost of waking up very, very early in order to arrive at your destination for said light. It's bad enough living in Whitefish and traveling to the Western entrance to the park, but it's even worse when you live about halfway down the Western edge of Flathead Lake like Natalia & Ben do.
They had to get up and on the road a solid two hours before I did in order to make it to our session on time but I'm so thankful that they made the effort and were good sports about it all.
