Adventure Engagement Session (Kananaskis)
Natasha + Chris
All images by Kalla Ramberg Photography (Hey, that’s me!)
For Chris and Natasha’s engagement session, we wanted to feature the beautiful mountains that Kananaskis offers. They also wanted to go for a more formal look which I always ADORE the look of! What you choose to wear for your engagement session definitely influences the final feeling of the images, and something about how ethereal Natasha’s flowy blue dress added the perfect amount of “Disney princess” to the images.
We played around at one of my all-time favourite photo locations in Kananaskis, Wedge Pond, before running off to a nearby cliff that overlooks a sprawling valley. As impressive as this cliff looks with the right angles, it’s actually just off the road side and a very short hike away! Truly spectacular views that you don’t even have to get sweaty to obtain, although I did tell the couple that I’d lie to everyone and tell them that we ACTUALLY had to hike 20 miles in to get to that spot. Based on the photos, I don’t think anyone would doubt that!
After finding a nice flat park on the top of the overlook (because spinning and dancing near a cliff is, well, generally not advised) I had Chris spin Natasha around to get some motion in the dress. These two were giggling the entire session, which makes for beautiful photos since there wasn’t a fake smile in sight. It’s couples like this that make my job easy- if you stand back and let the couple interact and have fun, you’re guaranteed spectacular images that have true emotion in them.
Although I don’t usually advocate for playing in traffic, this stretch of road was quiet enough and we could hear and see any vehicles coming long before we would be in any danger. We chased each other up and down the road for a few photos which was probably more physically demanding than the photo where it looks like they had to scale and entire mountain.
At Wedge Pond, there are beautiful forested areas right by the water that are always fun to play around in. At the right time of day when the sun is low on the horizon, you get beams of light in between the trees. The dramatic backlighting adds a magical look to the image as opposed to more even or flat lighting. Very fairytale, right?
“Alright, I need to guys to stare into the sun for a second, if you feel your retinas starting to sizzle feel free to close them because I can’t even see your faces for this photo.” -Things that you’ll hear me say if I’m your photographer
The photo above is another one of my ABSOLUTE favourites. The couple, their attire, and the scenery were just chefs kiss.
We caught some magical and slightly hazy lighting as the sun began to dip down behind the mountains. Despite it looking like a winter wonderland, it was dang near +10 celcius which felt like summer after the cold snap we’d had.
Natasha spent a lot of time being spun around at this session. It’s been a couple of months so hopefully her dizziness has worn off by now. Either way, 100% worth it for these photos, right?! So long as you aren’t reaching levels of “LET ME OFF THIS MERRY-GO-ROUND OF SPINNING BECAUSE I’M GONNA BARF”… I’ll probably keep ya’ spinning. 🤷♀️
I’m a big advocate of couple’s wearing whatever they’d like for their engagement sessions because photo aesthetics aside, the most important thing hands-down is that a couple feels comfortable, amazing, and like their photos reflect who they are. However, I admittedly have a huge weakspot in my heart for couples who want to embrace a more dramatic look and rock a suit and dress. Plus, dresses with flowy fabrics can add so much beautiful dimension and motion to the images. Big, BIG fan.
This location is one of my year-round favourites for so many reasons. There’s such an amazing diversity of settings, ranging from wide open mountain views, forests, golden larches in the fall, a lake, and it’s easily accessible regardless of conditions. If you’re eloping with me as your photographer, you can definitely expect me to toss out Wedge Pond as a suggestion!
Hand in hand and running off into a sunset. Was this a photo session or the end of a romantic movie?
We also did a more casual and cozy look as well so we could get a good range of images. Plus, it’s a little bit easy to run, piggy back each other, and traipse through snowdrifts when you aren’t wearing a dress and suit. Still crossing my fingers that one day North Face or Patagonia will do a collab with a dress company so we can get a gown designed for mountain climbing!
Thank you for coming out to the mountains for your adventurous engagement session. All the love. -Kalla
