Introduction:

Hey there friend!

Ready to lace up your hiking books and hit a trail that takes you deep into the mountains to have jaw dropping views for your engagement images but don’t know where to start? Don’t be embarrassed and don’t stress because great news, you’ve come to the right place! This blog post is a comprehensive guide to help you plan the adventure engagement session you’ve been dreaming of! 

So how do you know that what I say is accurate? My name is Ethan Lewis and I am a travel adventure wedding and engagement photographer who believes in building meaningful relationships with couples while I guide them on how to blaze their own path and create a story that is a true reflection of their authentic bond. I’ve traveled all across the U.S. guiding couples on crazy cool expeditions and on my own to hike, photograph, and discover the unknown! I’ve been to various different states, traversed multiple National Parks, climbed numerous mountain ranges, and shot in a wide variety of natural lighting situations.

Planning an adventure engagement/wedding to a place you’ve never been before can be a lot of work and there are many unknowns and things to consider before you embark on this quest. If may seem like a lot even after reading this blog post, but let me tell you it is SOOOOO WORTH IT! At the end of it all, not only will your thrill of adventure be feed and you’ll have stunning views in your images, but you will also walk away scratching a destination off your bucket list and have a memory that you will never forget.

Ready to kiss stress goodbye and dive into how to plan your very own adventure engagement session? Let’s jump into this blog’s content! 🙂

Pro Tip: Most of the information covered also applies very heavily to adventure weddings and elopements! 

Sections Covered:

01: Discovering your ideal landscape (where do you want to explore?)

02: Setting the scene for your adventure (choosing your session location!)

03: Do the research and learn about your selected landscape!

04: Booking your travel and permit requirements (if applicable!) 

05: Preparing for the session (what to bring, outfit ideas, weather plan!) 

06: Making the most out of your adventure (so you never forget it!)

Section 01 – Discovering your ideal landscape (where do you want to explore?):

First things first; what landscape is your adventure taking us? Where do you want to explore and what scenery do you want beautifully displayed in your images? Do you envision being in the foothills with majestic mountains towering over you? Looking out over a jaw dropping views from the top of a high peak? How about soaking in a beautiful waterfall or roaming around ethereal sand dunes? 

There are pros and cons and things to consider when choosing a destination.

Let’s break each landscape up into little sections and talk about what you can expect from each: 

Foothills:

Typically require less hiking and a wider view of the area around you. You are usually in lower elevation so often times you can be surrounded by a thick, colorful forrest or standing in a field of tall, sage green grass. Lay out a blanket and break out a bottle champagne to bring the experience full circle. 

Mountain Tops:

Usually requires more hiking but the clim will reward you with stunning views from the sky. Feel like you’re on top of the world hand to hand with your boo and see the world from a new perspective. Higher elevation usually means less tress but often times still plenty of green grass swaying in the wind. The strong mountain wind aids depth to the images by catching long hair and flowy dresses in its grip. Sunlight lasts the longest here and sunsets can aid so much pop to your images. 

Waterfalls:

Wear a lighter, more casual outfit and don’t be afraid to take a dip with your fiancé at the end of the session. Usually surrounded by lush green vegetation and/or awesome rock formations, waterfalls can add a lot of depth. The splashing water and water particles in the air add depth to an image, but is can also be difficult to hear one another over its powerful force. It is not uncommon for waterfalls to be surrounded by its landscape, so often times it gets darker here faster. 

Sand Dunes/Desert Landscape:

The most unique yet uncommon of them all. Sand dunes offer ethereal and cinematic  imagery as the wind picks up and blows the sand around you. Often times warmer and more dry, the dunes offer muted colors as compared to to green of the mountains.

Section 02 – Setting the scene for your adventure (choosing your session location!):

Now that you have a better idea of each landscape, what they offer and what you can expect, which sounds like it’s more up your alley?

A great place to research trails and adventurous locations is the AllTrails app. Provided below are examples of areas I know of and have even explored that provide you with the best views for each landscape category. Each is a link where you can view real photos of each landscape: 

Foothills:

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. The Garden of the Gods, Colorado (AllTrails/Session Link) Teton National Park, Wyoming. Cade’s Cove – Great Smoky National Park, Tennessee (AllTrails/Session Link). Glacier Lake Trail – Homer, Alaska. 

Mountain Tops:

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Garden of the Gods, Colorado. Carpenter Peak Trail Roxborough State Park, Colorado. Heart Lake – Mt. Shasta, Northern California. Yosemite National Park, California. Clingman’s Dome – Great Smoky National Park, Tennessee.  Little Egypt, Jacksboro Tennessee. Roan Mountain via Jane Bald Trail, North Carolina (AllTrails/Session Link). Half Moon Arch and Chimney Top Trail, Red River Gorge, Kentucky (AllTrails/Session Link). Chained Rock Trail – Pineville, Kentucky (AllTrails/Session Link). Denali National Park, Alaska. 

Waterfalls:

Burney Falls – Burney, California (AllTrails/Session Link). Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California. Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite National Park, California. Lost Creek Falls Trail – Sparta, Tennessee (AllTrails/Session Link). Multnomah Falls Trail, Bridal Veil, Oregon. Grotto Falls Trial, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Ozone Falls State Park, Crab Orchard, Tennessee. Fall Creek Falls, Pikeville, Tennessee.  

Sand Dunes:

High Dune Trail, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Sand Dunes Loop Trail, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. White Sands Backcountry Trail, White Sands National Park, New Mexico. Alkali Flat Trail, White Sands National Park, New Mexico. Silverlake Sand Dunes, Michigan (AllTrails/Session Link).

Section 03 – Do the research and learn about your selected landscape:

At this point you should now have a landscape narrowed down, and an exact area of interest. Now its time to do a little bit research on the area to locate trails with amazing photo opportunities, what it would cost to fly out there, best time of year for colors, climate and weather, and potential dangers in the area (bears, snakes, things like that 🙂 ) 

Looking up trails and photo opportunities:

All locations listed in section 02 contains a link to an All Trails listing for a trail. To discover new trails and locations, there are two great places to start. Open up google and search the area you desire and “engagement photo locations” or “elopement locations.”

Example: “Oregon Coast Engagement Session Locations.” { hit search! }

Google will then pull up many blogs other photographers, wedding planners, or even couples have written and published to the web that cover topics like this. This is a great place to learn a little bit about the environment and see actually engagement images in the location. 

Once you’ve discovered a location, pull up All Trails and search the area to find that exact trail. This will tell you trail length, trail type, trail difficulty, trailhead directions, reviews of the trail and its area, images, and a bunch of other informational you’ll want to know.

Section 04 – Booking your travel and permit requirements (if applicable!): 

Estimating potential travel expenses:

This can be a huge factor when planning your adventure. It’s important to get a trip estimate to see if this is something that fits into your budget. Visit expedia.com or your favorite airline website (I usually prefer southwest.com or americanair.com) to search for flights and airports near the desired area. 

Once you’ve settled on an airport and flight, research rental car agencies in the airport to calculate the cost of a good rental car. Take note of the landscape you’ll be in so you can be sure to rent a vehicle that qualifies. Ideally hybrid cars are ideal for great mileage!

Find hotels or airbnb’s in the local area:

Calculate cost of overnight stay! Often times you can book all three of the above at one time on sites like expedia.com for an easier experience and also snag some killer deals! Search hotels online in the local area, or use vrbo.com or airbnb.com to search for cozy cabins/airbnbs nearby!

Budget eating and gas expenses:

Look up restaurants and grocery stores in the local area and look up the average cost for gasoline in the area. Estimate the two and set aside a budget with a little wiggle room for your trip. 

Acquiring permits if required:

Most national parks do require photography permits if you plan to photograph while inside of the national park. Photography permits for engagements usually do not cost too much, but the process does take a little time. I walk my couples through the process of obtaining a permit, but here is the exact steps so you know the process. 

Research online “photography permits for Rocky Mountain National Park” and you should find links to where you will be directed the the “.gov” site for the park with a form so you can apply for a permit. Usually, you’ll need to print of a little form, fill it out, and then write a check and mail it to the office of Park Affairs. Processing the permit takes up to two weeks where they will then send you the required permit. I suggest doing this as soon as you are able to do so!

There should be an email for a park representative written down somewhere on the site if you need any help. 

As a a guide for my couple’s I help research permits for them and walk then through the permit application process.

Section 05 – Preparing for the session (what to bring, outfit ideas, weather plan!): 

Time to pack! Here are some outfit ideas for your session, things you need to bring, and a solid weather plan for your adventure session: 

Outfit Ideas for the session:

First let’s cover the colors of your outfits. If your session takes place in a very colorful landscape (ex. Mountains with lots of trees and greenery, red rock canyons, etc) I recommend a neutral, muted wardrobe. Wearing neutral colors will help you pop out from the colorful background much easier and overall muted colors give away for a soft, clean edit. If you wear bright, bold colors and have a bright, colorful background, you tend to blend into the background more. This in turn will also bring the viewers eye directly to the subject of the image, which is you! 

Great examples of colors include but are not limited too:

Blacks, whites, grays, browns, nude colors, sage green, beige, rust red, dusty blue, and blush pink. { You can click here to view a Pinterest board I put together for outfit examples. }

What to pack and bring with you:

To make help reduce the size of this blog post, I created an “Adventure Engagement/Wedding Packing Checklist” Pdf for you to download! You can download the checklist by scrolling to the bottom of this blog and clicking the “Download the Checklist” button. Refer to the checklist when packing for your session, and don’t hesitate to bring anything else you think you may need!

Section 06 – Making the most out of your adventure (so you never forget it!):

The most important section in this entire blog: MAKE THIS AN ADVENTURE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET! My goal is to guide couples and make this an adventure and a memory of a lifetime; one filled with authenticity, emotion, and joyous celebration. I want to help you blaze your own path and document the roots of your authentic love story. Start to end. No compromising. Unapologetically you. I’ll be alongside you every step of the way. Your friend, your guide, an advocate.

It’s time that I heard your vision and history and that we embark on your adventure! Click the button below, fill out a quick form, and let’s start planning your adventure today: