A Secluded Autumn Kananaskis Adventure Wedding Shoot
The Autumn season in the Canadian Rockies is incredibly short, but it’s easily the most beautiful time of year here. Us photographers go crazy for it, and having the chance to take some wedding photos in a beautiful fall location is an opportunity not to be missed!
An Adventure Wedding Shoot in Banff with Fall Colours
This year, the larch season was longer and more stunning than I can ever remember in previous years, so when I chatted with A and A and found out they were willing to hike to any location, I immediately knew where we were going to go; a short hike in Kananaskis with the most incredible lake surrounded by larch pines.
Kananaskis is so much quieter than Banff, so it’s really the perfect place to take elopement photos or do a wedding photoshoot!
I’d visited this spot before in previous larch seasons, but nothing could have prepared me for the burst of colours and the perfect reflection we were met with at the top of our hike. The best thing about this location?
The trailhead is almost invisible and most people don’t know about it still, so we had the entire place to ourselves for the entire duration of our shoot!
The best thing about adventure elopement shoots in Banff is that there are dozens of places you can go that most tourists have never heard of, so it only takes a little bit of hiking to escape the madness and find a secluded spot. This has the double benefit of getting your couple away from other people so that they can focus on the photos and not feel too self conscious (something they might notice more at places like Moraine Lake or Lake Louise, for example)
With Fall, it’s even better, because things realllly die down here after the September long weekend, and virtually everyone heads to Larch Valley to get their fill of Autumn colours. If you can face trekking out to Kananaskis and are ok with avoiding hotspots like Ptarmigan Cirque and Pocaterra Ridge, we can find some of the most incredible autumn colours for the most breathtaking elopement photos!
Well, honestly, we could do Ptarmigan and Pocaterra but it’s best to avoid the insane crowds there if possible!
The Hike
Even after a long summer of hiking, A and A completely left me in their dust. The hike was short and steep, and even armed with all their wedding gear, they still barely broke a sweat. When I take couples out for wedding shoots, I usually like to gauge their abilities before picking a location, but in this case, it seemed to be me that was too unfit to handle it!
The Shoot
The conditions for our adventure wedding shoot couldn’t have been more perfect. A & A looked amazing and exploring this amazing location in Kananaskis together made for the most incredible photos. We cracked some beers to ease into it, got the dogs involved and even threw in an outfit change!
How to plan a successful adventure wedding shoot
To plan a successful shoot like this, I think it really helps to have a window in which you can work. If you can be flexible over a few days, then you can wait and see when the best weather is, and pull the trigger when the time is right. Obviously not everyone has that flexibility, but it can really help!
The next thing, is picking a unique location that works for your couple. Give them choices and let them use your expertise to pick out the best spot together. Not everyone is able to do every hike, but some people have no limits, so don’t be afraid to throw crazy ideas out there that they might actually love! Even multiday adventures can make for incredibly epic shots; never be afraid to share your ideas with a couple in case they absolutely love it!
Finally, bear in mind how seasonal conditions might affect your location. Our choice to pick this lake was based purely on it having autumn larches, and I think if it wasn’t autumn, I probably would have chosen a different location. There are so many seasonal locations that would create absolutely mind blowing photos for your engagement or adventure wedding shoot, and it’s up to your photographer to guide you to them!
If you want to book me for this location
If you like these pictures and think we’d be a good fit for a Banff or Kananaskis Adventure wedding or elopement shoot, then drop me an email or fill in the contact form on the site! This particular site is very seasonal, and if you want this exact location and want to have larches, I’d recommend aiming for some time between September 20th and the end of September.
As a final note, this location is so special because of it’s secret location, so iff you want to know the location, you’ll have to book me :D
