Every time I get to work with Becka and Stephan (I’ve done their family photos and their wedding!), it’s a total blast, so it was no surprise at all to me that we had such a fun time during their Missoula Montana summertime rock the dress photos. AND they brought two of their good friends, Jes and Kara, and their pup, Daisy, too.

It was a *much* warmer day than their snowy wedding day back in November, and Becka joked that this time around she didn’t have to wear leggings under her dress! And what a gorgeous day it was! We couldn’t have been treated to more beautiful light or scenery for their session. And everybody was full of laughs and jokes and Daisy enjoyed herself as well!

I think one of my favorite things about Becka and Stephan (and there are a lot!) is just how easily they love one another. The way they look at one another. The way they laugh together. They way they goof around and just have fun – it’s awesome and such a treat to get to capture for them!

Becka and Stephan’s friends Jes and Kara were such a blast to photograph as well – they were game to walk through the super tall grass (in heels, even!), and were the best cheerleaders for Becka and Stephan’s photos. They got just as excited as I did when we hit those fantastic pockets of beautiful light!

Becka was just radiant and glowing as we made her individual photos. And every time Stephan joined her, her smile became even wider, her eyes sparkled brighter, and it’s like they were in their own perfect world – truly a joy to document!

Becka and Stephan (and Jes and Kara and Daisy, too!) – thank you, again, for such a fantastically fun session! I swear, you need to just keep having major life events so I can photograph them all for you. ;) It’s always such a treat to get to hang out and make beautiful images with you! Here’s to you two and your love!

On the Docket:

Weddings, elopements, and portraits! Stay posted!

Cheers,

-Kristine

When Megan contacted me about doing a Missoula Montana rock the dress session with her and her husband, Scott, I admittedly got a little nervous – it’s not every day you photograph other photographers (they are the couple behind Megan Lane Photography out of Helena). But they were so excited and so gung ho about doing this to celebrate their upcoming 11th anniversary (yay, you two!), I knew it was silly of me to be nervous, and more importantly, that we’d have a great time making these images. Plus, it’s always fun to work with folks who’ve got a vision for how they’d like their photos to look (magical, fairytale, editorial – yahoo!).

And oh! What a great time we had! I think Megan and I have got the exact same excitement level when it comes to making photos, so we were probably both a little ridiculously excited (let’s just say there were many, many peals of laughter and giddy sound effects), but for good reason – these two truly rocked their photos!

Megan and Scott! It was such a treat to meet and photograph you two, and I’m so happy that you did this as a treat to yourselves. What a fantastic way to celebrate 11 years together! Congratulations again, and here’s to lots of photo fun in front of and behind the camera! :)

On the docket: portraits and weddings! Stay posted!

Cheers,

-Kristine

Oh, how I adore rock the dress sessions! They are just so much fun – relaxed, beautiful, playful, creative, and most importantly they take place outside of the wedding day timeline to allow more flexibility with image-making. Don’t get me wrong, I love making photos during wedding days too, and Kristeen and Colt’s day was certainly no exception, but there’s something just so special about doing these types of portraits without time constraints, and simply allowing yourself to go with the flow of the day and just follow the light and let it do its thing.

So that’s what we did. It happened to be a very smoky day since wildfires in Canada, Washington and Oregon were pushing smoke into the Missoula valley, but that didn’t stop us from wandering around in the woods. We had quite a bit of fun with these dandelion weed things (we’ll pretend they aren’t weeds…and maybe they aren’t? Any botanist-minded folks willing to enlighten me as to what this doodads are?), Kristeen and Colt were both willing to toss their shoes to the side and meander barefoot for a while (seriously – there’s something so beautiful about a couple walking barefoot together…amiright?), and Colt picked Kristeen a true Montana wildflower bouquet (what could be more perfect?).

We laughed, we smiled, we ran, we soaked in the beauty, we had a heckuva darn good time. And we got to play with those GIANT dandelion things.

Such a fun evening! Thanks again you two. :) Anytime you want to wander in the woods with me, just let me know.

On the docket: more portraits and weddings! Stay posted!

Cheers,

-Kristine

Dusty and Tom are so fab – first, remember their gorgeous Glacier wedding last July? Secondly, when Dusty told me what she wanted to do for her rock the dress session, I was loving how her goal was to incorporate some of their favorite things – golfing, their love of Missoula, their passion for the Griz and, the cherry on top – quintessential Missoula summer awesomeness: floating the river with beers in hand.

We started out golfing a few holes and took advantage of some gorgeous Missoula vistas as well. Talk about a perfect day for all of what we had planned! After hitting the course, our next stop was the “M” trail at the university, and yet more amazing views! (I think we all surprised quite a few of the hikers on the trail – we’re pretty sure Dusty even got instagrammed by a lady finishing her hike).

We couldn’t leave the university without a nod to the Griz, so we headed over to the stadium to make some photos there. We were all kind of secretly longing to get into the stadium (or perhaps not so secretly longing), but discovered it was locked, and decided we probably shouldn’t break in. ;) However, luck was on our side and we ended up running into a friend of mine (yay Adelle!), who works at the U, and also happened to have a set of keys on her. Serendipity, baby! We were in! And boy were we excited.

After we did our photo thing in the stadium, we zipped on over to the river and ended our evening with some tube-floating, river-wading and a TON of laughter. I’d say that makes for one heckuva a great rock the dress session. Way to be, D&T! You seriously rocked your session!

On the docket: portraits galore and weddings! Stay posted!

Cheers,

-Kristine

Reason number 5 million and one why I think Lauren and Thad are the bee’s knees: they are avid rock climbers AND they wanted me to document, quite literally, a rock the dress session for them the day after their wedding.

When they first told me this, in my head I was all giddy and yelping and saying (in my head, mind you), “Can I get a heck YEAH!?!!!” (Though now that I think about it, maybe that wasn’t all in my head.)

Because 1. How completely, totally awesome.

And 2. I’m a rock climber as well. Albeit a bit rusty after not having had a partner for a couple years, but I GET rock climbing. I get it. I love it. I understand it. I know the thrill of it, and the mental hurdles you’ve got to tackle. And the pure exhilaration of being on top of the world. So, this made me pretty darn excited, if that wasn’t already apparent. Plus, they wanted to climb near Lake Koocanusa, which is one of my favorite spots to climb, and also a place where I did a little write-up and photo story for the Daily Inter Lake (when I was working there), about my own climbing adventures.

And 3. How completely, TOTALLY AWESOME. (Yes, I had to reiterate that.)

Anywho….the day came, it was early and a wee bit on the chilly side, but holy moly. SO worth it. We all giggled and shivered a bit as Lauren and Thad slipped their rings onto necklaces, got their harnesses situated, the rope flaked, knots tied and wedding dress and suit adjusted. But as soon as they hit the wall to climb “Road Kill” and “To TNT or Not to Be” (the names of their routes), it was game time. And oh….how unbelievably beautiful!

I love climbing. I also adore watching climbers do their thing. There is something so amazing and truly incredible about witnessing the human body defying gravity, and seeing muscles come to life, fluid and beautiful in the light.

Add wedding day finery to the mix and a touch of a breeze – holy HECK. I was practically beside myself with pure excitement. (There may have been some leaping around involved.)

Have I mentioned how much I adore Lauren and Thad? :)

And now, I’ve gone on far too long with my words….I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves. Prepare to be awed by these two. They. Are. Amazing.

On the docket: portraits and weddings! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

When Starr called me up to ask me about photographing her intimate wedding Memorial Day weekend, I just knew I’d have a blast working with her and her fiancé (now husband!) Ian. She has such a positive, happy energy and it just radiated on her wedding day. She said her vows in the twinkling lights of the Missoula Children’s Theater and then she, Ian and I took a walk through the woods to make some fun portraits outdoors after the ceremony.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for these images – sunny and gorgeous! As we were heading back to our respective vehicles, Starr proposed the idea of an impromptu rock the dress session. And who would I be to say no to a fun idea like that? So we all rolled up our pants (and wedding dress!), and waded into the extremely chilly water to make some fun, memorable images. We were all laughing pretty hard, and I think our smiles were about ready to jump off our faces – such a blast! We even had a bit of a crowd greet us after we took our frozen selves out of the water to dry off a bit.

Thank you again, Starr and Ian! It was such a treat to document such a special day in your lives, and so nice to meet your family. Congratulations again!

On the docket: weddings and portraits! Stay posted, folks! Blog posts are coming your way, fast and furious! :)

Cheers!

-Kristine

Rock the dress sessions – I seriously can’t get enough of them, especially when they’re as fun as Sarah and Jeff’s! I met up with them at Sarah’s family’s cabin on Placid Lake in Seeley Lake, and we had a blast traipsing about the area making some gorgeous day-after images of these two newlyweds. Placid Lake is especially important to both Sarah and Jeff because Jeff actually proposed in a kayak not too far from the family cabin. We even got a photo of them with the kayak!

Sarah and Jeff – thanks again for having me do this! Oh my gosh – so much fun, and so beautiful! And now, to the photos!

On the docket: weddings, portraits, and more weddings! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

-Kristine

And now, here’s a little video to showcase the very best of 2011 – your smiling faces, the love in your hearts, and moments that have changed your lives. Thank you for inviting me to document this for you. It’s truly been an honor.

On the docket – portraits!

Cheers,

-Kristine

It was a bit of a rainy, overcast day for Katherine and Mike’s Missoula “rock the dress” session, but that didn’t dampen anybody’s spirits, least of all their dog, Buck, who was happy to jump into the river, and come bounding towards Katherine and Mike for wet “hello’s!”

Katherine very much rocked her dress – we had a wonderful time strolling through the tall grasses, drinking in the beauty that is autumn in Missoula, and making some fun images in the rain.

We were joking that Katherine and Mike have hit almost all of the seasons during their photography with me – winter/spring for their engagement session, summer for their gorgeous ranch wedding west of Missoula, and now autumn for their rock the dress session.

As always, you two, what a wonderful time! Thank you so much for joining me on a damp day – it really paid off ! :) On to the photos!

On the docket: more portraits!

Cheers,

-Kristine

I met up with Chris and Kelcy a day after their gorgeous Missoula wedding for their super fun trash the dress/rock the dress session. It was roasting hot, but we all had a blast making some really fun images of the two of them doing something they mutually dig – jeeping! I hadn’t ever been in a jeep before (I know, I know…I’m a woman of small, deceptively tough cars) and I’ve got to say, it was definitely a good time! We also made some stunning non-jeeping images of the two of them, and Chris definitely won the award for best veil assistant ever. With a veil as long as Kelcy’s, it liked to grab onto twigs and such, and Chris was always there to help her out. :)

Thanks again, you two! What a fun session! You rocked it!

On the docket: weddings and portraits and weddings galore!

Cheers,

-Kristine