Outdoor Bridal Portraits with My Adventurous Wife

The moment I saw her walking down the aisle, my eyes started to fill with tears.  At that moment and to this day, she was the most beautiful thing that I had laid my eyes on.  In six days, that will have been exactly one year ago.  To celebrate our first year of marriage, I asked Shannon if she would like to take some bridal portraits of her in her wedding dress.  It is an idea that I’ve had in my head ever since our wedding, and it would be a fun excuse for her to wear her beautiful dress again.  She loved the idea, and I knew exactly where I wanted to photograph her.

It’s no secret that I love the outdoors and that I take weekend trips to the mountains as often as possible.  Well, Shannon loves it just as much as I do.  In fact, I proposed to her as we sat around a campfire one night while staying at my family’s camp in Allegheny National Forest.  With that in mind, I thought it would be great to head into the forest with her dress for the bridal portraits.

After a decent walk, we finally got to the spot that I remembered from a previous hike.  Nothing like navigating through the woods, climbing steep hills, and crossing a creek with several pounds of photo gear and a heavy wedding dress.  In the end, it was completely worth the effort, and I was able to get the shots that I’ve had in my head for a year.

Thankfully, I had quite a bit of help with this personal shoot.  My parents and youngest sister, Alexa, joined us for the weekend trip.  So really, this whole thing was a big family effort as my dad helped hold my light, my mom got some shaky GoPro footage, and Alexa did Shannon’s hair and makeup.  A huge ‘Thanks!’ to you guys for all your help!

And to my incredible wife, Shannon.  Thank you for being the most amazing wife I could ever wish for.  You’re my biggest fan and your endless love and support means the world to me.