Winter Styled Shoot
Frozen Waterfall Styled Shoot
February 2021
WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN - this shoot was literally what dreams are made of. First of all, I want to thank everyone who helped me bring this vision to life, when I tell you this shoot turned out exactly as I imagined, I truly mean it - colours, location, outfits, EVERYTHING!
A few weeks ago I saw an image of stunning frozen falls out in the Rocky Mountains, the first thing I thought of was how the ice resembled pillars and had somewhat of a cathedral like vibe. From there, I knew that a styled elopement would be the perfect shoot to fulfill my vision. Knowing that the overall colour inside of the falls would be blue, I decided that the opposite colour, Orange, would be the ideal contrast. I pulled together a vision board with this colour scheme and began the planning process! Over the next weeks I put together a plan and reached out to a couple who I knew would be perfect for the shoot! My best childhood friend Emily and her fiancé Justin recently got engaged, and since I will be in her wedding party (yay), this was my chance to photograph them as a wedding-inspired couple! They were absolutely perfect models and endured quite a wild hike to get to the falls, we had so much fun & I am so thankful for them!
The outfits were my favourite part. I styled Emily in one of my Park and Fifth dresses and sewed a sheer top to go over it. I knew that I wanted puffy sleeves of sorts, so I added ties to the wrists that gave them a puffed effect. If you look closely you will see a few unfinished raw edges on the top, if anyone has tips on how to hem a curve, let me know (lol). Other than that, the top turned out exactly how I imagined! With the left over scraps from the top, I sewed a little bow for the pony tail, and also made a ribbon for the bouquet which I dyed in tea! The last component of Emilys’ outfit were the boots -holy moly boots, I am OBSESSED. Since the dress was midi-length, I knew I wanted some sort of boot to complete the look. When I saw them at the thrift store it literally felt like a holy-grail moment. LOL! Justins outfit came together beautifully as well, he wore brown khakis which fit the ‘orange’ colour scheme I was after. My favourite part of his outfit was his ribbon shirt which is part of his Cree heritage. The florals were super easy and fun to do, I bought a bunch of babies breath and spray painted them to fit my colour scheme. I went with a burnt orange and they turned out perfectly!
We headed out to the location on a Sunday afternoon and began our hike out to the falls. It was a beautiful warm day and there was lots of fresh powdery snow. We hiked through the trees for a while and eventually the path opened up into a huge valley where we could see the majestic frozen falls - SO beautiful! We made our way up to the ice and climbed over the front of the falls into a the ice cavern behind. There was a large ice platform that we stayed on for the most part and got to work! We spent around 30 minutes shooting and then spent the rest of our afternoon exploring the ice and hiking around. It was truly like a playground for adults - so much fun.
Anyway, here are the results! It is safe to say I am obsessed and so so so proud of these images. If anything, I hope this inspires people not to shy away from winter shoots or elopements because they can indeed be this incredible. Enjoy!!
