Back in June of 2022, I had the incredible opportunity to travel for Kortney and Brad's Alaska Engagement Session. This Alaska couple fell in love in Alaska but decided to get married in Idaho. However, they still wanted photos in their home state of Alaska. When they booked me as their destination wedding photographer, I included an engagement session in Alaska with their package. We planned their Alaska Engagement Session for the last week of May.
This trip has an entire personal saga that I'll share in another blog post. All I can say for now is Alaska is simply the most incredible place I have ever traveled to. I flew into Anchorage on a Red-eye flight. I'll never forget the feeling of flying into Anchorage with a clear view of hundreds of glaciers and mountain peaks outside my plane window. The only way I can describe Anchorage is that it feels like Montana on steroids.
Something that has always intrigued me about Alaska is the endless midnight sun. I experienced the midnight sun phenomenon when I was in Iceland in May of 2021. I arrived 3 weeks before the summer solstice. Planning Kortney and Brad's Alaska engagement session so close to the summer solstice meant that sunset wasn't until 11:33pm!
Kortney was kind enough to pick me up from my Airbnb in Anchorage around 8pm. Because sunset was so late, we planned a picnic at a nearby lake before driving up Hatcher Pass. Kortney and Brad brought their favorite beers from a local Alaska brewery and we hung out at Reflections Lake for a while until the sun got lower. These photos look like we took them at 2pm, but it was nearly 9pm by the time we got to Reflections Lake. It was truly wild!
After spending some time at Reflections Lake, we made the drive up Hatcher Pass. I was giddy with excitement about adventuring up to Hatcher Pass. I had seen photos and read about the infamous tiny A-Frame dry-cabins for years. In fact, when I arrived at my Airbnb, there was a framed photo of the tiny red A-Frame cabins hanging above my bed.
Hatcher Pass typically doesn't fully open until mid-late June. Although the pass wasn't open all the way to the top, we were able to drive to the main parking lot at the top of Hatcher Pass. Kortney wore a mustard yellow long gown (linked here) which was the perfect outfit choice for engagement photos because it popped against the snowy backdrop. Brad wore a simple button down shirt and dark jeans. Their outfits were perfect for the early summer/late spring Alaska engagement session vibes!
Get Their Outfit:
After walking around in the snow freezing our toes off, we drove further down the mountain to a trailhead. We hit the late 11:33pm sunset perfectly. The giant Alaska mountain peaks turned purple and pink with alpine glow. Honestly, it felt like the sunset lasted forever. Golden hour was everything I imagined it would be and more.
Thank you Kortney and Brad for bringing me all the way to Alaska to explore your home!
Love this Alaska engagement session? Here are a few more adventure engagement sessions to inspire you!
Denise and Blaze winter engagement session
Kait and Peyton's Mountain Engagement Session
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