Before I start telling you this quite interesting story, I have to mention that this client of mine inspired me for the entire wedding season 2019. In the beginning of the year she contacted me with an inquiry for Banff national park elopement engagement session. Before I could even think about working with this couple I had to accomplish a few safety steps to be able to work in the Canadian rocky mountains.

Steps to consider before hiring a mountain photography professional:

Alberta is very beautiful and inspiring province, so it’s no surprise that it is very popular worldwide as an exceptional wedding experience. So, before you hire your rocky mountain photographer, consider getting more information on the following topics:

• Banff National park requires photography licences to be able to hold a professional sessions inside the park. Check with your photographer if he/she has the correct license. Every section of the park might need a separate licence.
• Prepare your itinerary ahead of time. Mountain sessions can be time consuming especially if you want to cover multiple spots (lakes or hikes).
• Check with your photographer if his/her session fee covers the travel time. Sometimes there can be an extra cost for your photographer to work outside of Calgary or any other area.
• National park licensing is not always included in a photography session cost. Be prepared to discuss this option with your engagement photographer. Some professionals have these fees included into their services price-list, some don’t.
• Don’t try to hire a cheap photographer in order to avoid government park fees. That might cause you serious disappointments as well as fines which can double the actual fees cost. Be respectful and careful of whom do you choose to work with.
• Don’t be scared of the weather forecast. Unless you choose an extremely rainy day, your chances to have bad weather are pretty low. The mountain clouds usually move out within one hour or so. Considering this, you are pretty much safe to check the WeatherNetwork app to escape the rain (which clearly shows weather changes hourly).
• Think about transparent umbrellas. A lot of supermarkets carry these umbrellas seasonally. I’ve already mentioned this step in my previous article. So, check BED BATH & BEYOND which have pretty decent quality options for a bride in need. Better to be safe then wet!

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Here I want to share my wonderful experience with this couple from Toronto who came to Calgary simply to have a session in the mountains with me. Can you imagine how delighted I was and how much responsibility I had? All I dreamed about was to deliver the best service I was able to produce.

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Banff elopement engagement session plan

I’ve put some systematized information for you in order to ease your mountain session as you get ready:

• Make a list of locations you want to cover. Those might be your personal choices as well as per the photographer’s advise. Be sure to mention your wish list and ask for your expert’s approval. Some places can be tricky or inaccessible to work at.
• Calculate an exact travel time to this/these location/s. Time is a crucial and very important factor to consider.
• Ask your photographer when the best time to start is. I prefer the afternoon light, closer to sunset even, if the client needs and trust allow me to choose the timing.
• Have your snacks and water with you. Believe me, you’ll be very hungry in a while and you might not have time or place to buy some food.
• Have your snacks and water with you. Believe me, you’ll be very hungry in a short while and you might not have time or place to buy some food.
• Have extra clothes with you. The weather can be pretty “refreshing” in the mountains.
• Have some beautiful umbrellas, especially if the day is cloudy.
• Talk to your photographer about outfit changes. That can make your session more interesting and more fun. You can have totally different looks as if you’ve got multiple sessions instead of one.

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My beautiful engagement couple, Poroma and Saurav, got very serious in terms of preparing for the session. Poroma wanted to have a Bollywood style photoshoot. She instructed me on her expectations and sent me a list of visuals to check before the session. I found her request inspiring and exciting. I’ve never worked with “Bollywood stars”, nevertheless I wasn’t afraid to accomplish this work for the first time.

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During the first part of our engagement elopement session this couple had traditional red outfits representing Indian culture. This deep red colour worked very well with rich blue lakes like Moraine lake and Emerald Lake as well as Natural Bridge waterfalls. I definitely couldn’t get enough of these guys!

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So, in the evening part of our photo journey Poroma decided to change into yellow. Should I say that it worked event better with a sunset blue sky at Banff viewpoint hill?

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This couple totally stole my heart! We finished our gorgeous journey at the Lake Minnewanka. I should confess that we had to miss a couple locations because of the lack of time. This is exactly what I was talking about previously. Calculate your timing carefully and think about unexpected delays during a Banff elopement engagement session of any kind. In our case there were road constructions which kept us in traffic jam and we lost some precious time. We were still able to create so much gorgeous material, and the couple happily flew back home to Toronto.

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