Valdez, Alaska
the hearnes » adventure elopement photographers
Brett + Sarah’s destination engagement session in Valdez, Alaska
It always means so much to us when couples choose their elopement or engagement session location completely based on our own travel schedule! But its even cooler when it turns out the location means a lot to them as well. When Brett and Sarah reached out to me, they were super open to ideas, but mainly wanted an epic mountain backdrop for their photos. They both live in Austin, Texas, which they love, but knowing they were going to have a more traditional wedding back home, they decided to do an adventurous destination engagement session with us! We suggested they meet up with us in Alaska this summer and they were immediately down! They had actually been to Alaska before, at separate times — they each road the Texas 4000 when they were in college, which is an epic bike ride from Austin to Alaska to raise money for cancer research. Callen and I both went to UT Austin, so we were familiar with the ride and so stoked that they had both done it! Once they decided to come to Alaska for their engagements, they were so stoked to get to experience this beautiful place again, but this time they’d be together! They love traveling and have been all over the world together, so coming up to Alaska for their engagements felt like the natural thing to do.
We met up with Brett and Sarah in Valdez, Alaska, one of our favorite little towns we’ve been to! It’s much less crowded than the popular Kenai Peninsula, or Denali National Park area, but it has similar epic views, gorgeous hikes, and a ton of glaciers. We grabbed dinner and drinks at The Fat Mermaid first so we could get to know each other a little bit, and then hopped in their car to drive out to our hike! We had planned on doing their engagement session at a more easily accessible spot, but the day before Callen and I did this epic hike with our friends Matt and Kristen, and we decided we should do it again if Brett and Sarah were down! They were totally stoked on the idea of hiking for their session, so we loaded up the back packs and got out our trekking poles. This hike, like most hikes in Alaska, was pretty much straight up a steep ridge. One side was rolling green hills, and the other side was a chossy cliff face dropping dirt debris into the glacial ravine. It was not the type of place you’d want to fall!
We stopped about halfway up for a break and to take some photos with the epic views surrounding us. One thing I really loved about this hike was how much variety we had in a relatively short distance! We were able to get epic mountain views with green hills and wild fall colors all around, and then hike a little higher up to get a sweeping glacier valley with exposed ridglsines and gorgeous rocky slopes in every direction! Once we got to the top, we set our things down and Brett and Sarah changed into their more formal outfits while Callen made everyone espresso (yes, best party trick ever!) for the second half of their session. We explored around the ridge feeling like we were on top of the world! The glacier cracked and moved below us, releasing rock slides on occasion. One of my favorite things about glacier landscapes is the constant movement…they’re almost never silent, even though they are so huge and move so slowly.
As the sun started to set, we made our way down before it got completely dark and arrived back to the parking lot just as blue hour was starting to fade. It was such a fun day, and we drove back to town all pretty exhausted from the hike, but stoked on the epic day. Brett and Sarah even ended up coming back out to hang with us the following morning at the lake we had been camping by — Sarah and I hopped on the pacrrafts and paddled around the lake before they left and finished out the rest of their Alaska road trip!
Photographers: The Hearnes Adventure Photography
Bride’s Jumpsuit: Anthropologie
Bride’s Dress: Lulu’s
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The Hearnes Adventure Photography is run by Abbi and Callen Hearne, a husband & wife wedding photography team with an emphasis on adventure. Unless stated otherwise, all blog and social media posts are written from the perspective of Abbi! Our photography style is adventurous, full of stoke, and centered around telling a true story. We are nomadic wedding photographers living on the road, which allows us to photograph your adventures anywhere in the world. We especially love the sierra mountains in California, southwestern desert in Utah, and the glacial landscape of Alaska. We have updated passports and are willing to travel anywhere in the world.
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