Palo Duro Canyon Engagement Session

Of all the beautiful places in the world to take photos, I’d choose to go shoot a Palo Duro Canyon engagement session any day of the week. And having a stunning, kind couple, like Kate and Travis, to hang out with was icing on the cake.

Admittedly, my undying love for Palo Duro Canyon is partly due to the fact that it was basically our backyard for so long. I have learned so many lessons in the walls of this canyon.

All of our kids had their first hike here. Rowan was only a few months old the first time we loaded her in the Ergo and went to run some energy off her brothers in our home away from home. I learned the magic of “hiking pills,” AKA fruit-flavored TicTacs to keep my kids going “to the next hill/curve/tree.” Now they see TicTacs and ask if we’re hiking today.

When Sean and I were getting ready for our Aspen to Crested Butte hike, I would come hike my favorite trail, the Rock Garden Trail, up to the rim of the canyon and sit on a rock ledge thinking about if it was possible for me to make it on a 11-mile hike at over 12,000 feet. Spoiler alert: I made it, though a few hundred feet before the summit of the West Maroon Pass I was ready to throw myself into a can of oxygen. I learned that I can do hard things and that getting to places like that is worth it. Sidenote: Hypothetically, I may have also learned you should always take way more water than you think you’ll need when you decide to go on a five-mile hike in 100 degree weather. Yowza! Thanks, PD, for that lesson.

Kate and Travis’s engagement session was like all my other visits to the canyon, in that I always leave with my heart fuller than when I came in the park entrance. I have somehow been lucky enough to have the most incredible, sweet clients with whom I genuinely love to spend time. These two are no exception. Kate and Travis were complete troopers about exploring the canyon and letting me chase the beautiful light right into their photos. And the glowy goodness the sun gave us paired perfectly with the obvious adoration these two have for each other. It didn’t take long watching these two laughing and cozying up to know they are absolutely perfect for each other.

One of the things that I love about shooting engagements and weddings is getting to know a couple as they are on the brink of this incredible life change. Sean and I have only been married nine years, but our love is better now then it was then. It is different and not always as flashy as it was then, but it is stronger, more secure, more comfortable, more resilient. I love building relationships with my MTP couples and knowing that I get to cheer them on, encourage them, and be their biggest fans not only as they say “I do,” but as they build a life-long marriage.

Kate and Travis, you have so much goodness ahead of you. I cannot wait to see how you grow better together with each passing year!