Elizabeth & Janelle: Honeymoon Wedding Portraits in Hyalite Canyon

Elizabeth and Janelle got married last year at a small courthouse ceremony. It was a relaxed day without a big celebration, so they never really got to wear their wedding clothes for photos. A few months ago Janelle reached out because they were planning a honeymoon out West. They were staying in Idaho, and they drove over to Bozeman for an evening of portraits before heading down to the Tetons to go horseback riding and explore.

It was also the first time either of them had ever had professional photos taken.

You don’t have to be a model

A lot of the couples I work with tell me the same thing up front: they’ve never done this before and they don’t know what to do in front of a camera. That’s completely normal, and it isn’t your job to know. My job is to keep things relaxed, give you simple things to do together, and let the real moments happen between the two of you. Most people forget about the camera a lot sooner than they expect to.

We spent the evening in Hyalite Canyon, just outside Bozeman. We started in the pine forest, where the green leaves embroidered on Elizabeth’s gown fit right in among the trees, then walked out into the open meadow below the peaks with Janelle in her taupe suit. As the sun dropped, the light caught the tops of the mountains, and we finished with the two of them sitting together in the grass.

A couple of days after I sent their gallery, Elizabeth wrote to say they’d spent the whole night going through every photo: “They are amazing and beautiful… These are amazing and we are so happy.” Now they’re picking their top few to print big and frame.

Planning something small?

A courthouse wedding or a tiny ceremony doesn’t mean you have to skip the portraits. If you’re coming through Montana and want an evening in the mountains in your wedding clothes, I’d love to hear about it, even if you’ve never been in front of a camera. For ideas, see my guide to eloping in Montana, or look through Jordan & Lindsey’s Hyalite elopement and an engagement session in Hyalite.