After a bit of a GPS hiccup, we finally all made it down the winding gravel road to the Hawksbill Trail head.

There are so many lovely spots along this trail to stop and take pictures. I was enamored with all of the wildlife that the Pisgah National Forrest has to offer.

Katherine & Simon are so amazing! Simon is a pilot in the Navy while Katherine runs her own phenomenal paper design business. Seriously, you need to check out Katherine Hallberg Designs to see her incredible talent & use of paper to create some of the prettiest backdrops I’ve ever seen!

One of Simon’s favorite activities is picking Katherine up and making her laugh…though he doesn’t normally do it on a mountain trail. 😉

The further we walked the trail, the more we saw that a year of marriage had drawn these two even closer.

One of our “rules” we tall our clients is to always stay connected. That can mean a myriad of things, but what it boils down to is natural poses. How would you naturally hold and love each other? Not only is it beautifully intimate, but it relieves any pressure of having to be stiff & posed. I just love this shot of Simon holding his bride close to him.

This was the first mountain view we found on the way up the trail. It was so beautiful, but we still had quite a bit of trail to go. Luckily, we had lots of entertainment for the hike!

Katherine & Simon have done some modeling in the past, cuz ummm THEIR GORGEOUS! However, they’ve always been heavily posed. We take a very different approach when we do our couples sessions. Yes, we’ll pose if we need to, but we’d rather guide than physically put you into a pose. It’s always a weird shift, especially when you’re use to being in front of the camera and being told what to do. But when you’re in love, it takes no time at all to adjust to just being yourself. Katherine & Simon did it flawlessly!

Moody black and whites make my heart happy!

Katherine loves to pet Simon with her kitty claws…these two crack me up all day long!

Breathe each other in every day.

Katherine’s eyes say it all in this photo, am I right?

We finally reached the top of the trail & OH. MY. GOODNESS! Look at these epic views?

You could practically see the whole of Linville Gorge from our vantage point! Absolutely amazing!

Simon was most grateful for the breeze that came through and he took a moment to “cool down” before we continued the shoot. 😉

This is the look I get when I tell Daniel “Hey! You’re in my shot boo!” Woops!

I think the grump look from Daniel was worth the shot tho…don’t you?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what real love looks like. 😉 These two are all about Dat Jelly!

Once we get Katherine down, cuz that dress wasn’t the easiest to sit in, we got some spectacular cuddle shots!

This last bit of the shoot Katherine & I have been so excited about. She rented a gorgeous red gown that is incredibly beautiful. I’ve been having visions of mountains with red for months now just waiting for this shoot to get here! It did NOT disappoint!

Oh you know, we’re just going for a stroll on top of a mountain in an evening gown…LIKE YOU DO! 😉

Katherine is so elegant she doesn’t have to do anything other than be her beautiful self. Every photo is just stunning!

We got lots of funny comments from “real” hikers as we passed them on the way up the trail, but all of them were super encouraging. Our favorite comment tho was from a teenage girl who blurted out “AWE! Prom pictures?!” as soon as she saw Katherine & Simon. We all had a laugh as we imagined the most epic prom photo shoot ever!

There’s nothing quite like that mountain top light. We rushed to get as much of it as we could as storms rolled in from the west.

I’m obsessed with the subtle touches in this photo. The light breeze in Katherine’s hair, the soft clouds rolling in the background, and that look of love as Katherine gazes at her husband.

As that yummy golden light got covered by the storms coming in, the mountains started to get that gorgeous blue tone that gives them their signature name. It gets me every time.

That look of love is definitely mutual. It’s written all over Simon’s face!

Mountains are just one of my many obsessions in photography, but a close 2nd is clouds! They can be just as majestic and awe inspiring and they’re always changing and shifting. I noticed this pocket of golden light and just had to frame these two against it.

We spied an even more epic view and attempted to make our way to it. It proved to be a bit more challenging than expected. Especially with dress shoes on! But these two wouldn’t back down!

Once we got to the spot tho, wowzah, another spectacular view! I’m so glad Katherine found that red dress too, it’s a perfect rich color to contrast the blues & greens of the mountain-scape!

After hours of hiking and photo taking, Katherine still looked flawless!

Once the sun was setting behind the clouds you could really start to see a fog settle over the gorge. It was so eerie and romantic. We kept shooting as the light started to fade and more clouds rolled in.

Clouds, mountains, laughter, & love. The perfect recipe for a photograph!

I’m not sure if these two were still being über cute or sleeping at this point. 😉 They were workin’ it HARD!

Keep shooting past sunset, that twilight light is unlike anything else!

Just as I was about to setup one last shot raindrops started to fall. I scrambled to find the perfect spot to snag the raindrops. It took some maneuvering, but we finally got there!

Within moments the rain had fled and night had officially fallen. There was JUST enough light to grab this last epic view before heading back down the mountain. This shoot put us all to the test, but the results were 100% worth every drop of sweat and sore muscle that we encountered. Thank you Katherine & Simon for everything! <3