Mt. Baker Adventure Sunset Family Session

To say that this was a dream session is the understatement of the year.

First of all, let’s talk about how gorgeous Mount Baker is people. Standing at 10,781 feet in the heart of the North Cascades, Baker is known as an awesome ski spot in the winter months and a gorgeous hiking and camping spot for a few glorious months each summer.

At the peak of the mountain, Artist’s Point is a beautiful, dramatic vista which honestly looks different every time I visit. Just below the peak, numerous pull-offs and extremely sturdy vegetation (there are even signs!), allow photographers to work in literally some of the most beautiful locations in the country - if not the world.

I remember the first time I went to scout Baker a few hours before a shoot last year, and I felt like a chicken running around with my head cut off. Everything was so lush and inspiring that my mind told me to slow down and take it all in, but my business-lady brain kept me speed-walking all over the place, finding more and more beautiful spots as possible locations.

This adventurous family have been clients (turned friends) for several years now, ever since I shot their baby boy’s baptism and first birthday. Both Jackie and Cooper serve in the Navy, and somehow make it work (okay, they make it work AND look easy!). Military families are tough, y’all. And duel-military families - well, I have no words.

With work-ups, detachments, and deployments on the horizon in the coming year, both Jackie and Cooper wanted to not only capture beautiful family pictures in this moment of their lives - they also wanted to have a wonderful day together as a family. And they did.

And now they have these images and memories to look back on as they work through the challenges of the next year. Maybe that’s why I ultimately love this session so much. Because their gallery is so much more than a bunch of pretty pictures.

It’s looking back at a beautiful memory, while looking ahead to many more.

(p.s. I’m participating in a blog circle with a few other fantastic photographers. Scroll to the bottom to link to Shalimar Beekman’s beautiful post about family films).

Thanks for sticking around friends! Contact me if you want to book an epic adventure session for you and your family. Here’s another family session at Baker to check out as well.

And as promised, here’s Shalimar Beekman’s look at family photography in Chicago, and why family films are so close to her heart. Her work is so lovely - check it out friends!