Alaska holds such a special place in my heart and life. Alaska is where I spent most of my formative teenage years. I learned to drive, met my husband, graduated from high school, started college, started dating my husband, and even came back from Texas between semesters and got engaged. I met some of my closest friends during my time there and still question whether or not we will end up moving back some day.
Alaska is one of those places that you either love or hate. My first several years were definitely the latter. 11 years ago when we moved there it wasn’t as developed as it is now. You would be hard pressed to find anything besides a bar that stayed open past 9pm (we were teenagers so that wasn’t even an option), most days we thought Alaska was the worst place on earth. I remember I used to refer to it as a “frozen wasteland.” (Dramatic much?)
There is an undeniable beauty about countryside though. Every season has an amazingly beautiful quality about it that just takes me breath away. However, the fall was always my favorite. The colors are rich and vibrant and the air is so crisp and clean. I’ve never experienced a landscape quite like it. It’s where my love for photography started to take off and I studied at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 3 years before leaving for Texas.
These are some of my favorite photos from when we lived there.
I was fortunate to be asked back by Chris’s good friend from high school. He was planning a late spring wedding and asked if I would shoot their wedding. It didn’t take much convincing! We were honored to share in their wedding day and celebrate with them as they began their life as the Singletons.
It was gloomy the entire trip and rained almost every day, so we didn’t get to shoot outdoors as much as I had planned. Thankfully Kat snagged this shot for us on the way to the airport after the wedding. It now hangs in our living room alongside many other cherished memories. Maybe we will move back some day, maybe we won’t, but Alaska will always be one of the greatest places in the world.
Special thanks to Lauren with Beauty Board Media, she was an amazing 2nd shooter. If you’re ever in Alaska she’s the one to call http://www.beautyboardmedia.com/#/page/5b2a/home/.