Nicole and Jacob had an epic Rocky Mountain National Park engagement session in September. Fall is a pretty crazy time in Rocky Mountain National Park. Every year, Estes Park has Elk Fest, a fall festival at the end of September. It’s the time of year when the leaves in RMNP start changing. Tons of elk flock to the area and roam around. The festival draws huge crowds to the area. Sometimes having these large crowds can cause problems because not everyone knows how to be respectful of the park and it’s animal residents.
This year, the park rangers decided to cut off access to some of the fields, so the elk wouldn’t get scared off by the big crowds. Well, most of the fields they cut off were the ones with the best color, so we had to get creative! Luckily, we were able to find a few new spots with wonderful color and not a ton of people. No one wants a bunch of strangers in the back of their nature filled engagement photos right? We were able to get tons of stunning photos with no strangers and lots of color after all!
Rocky Mountain National Park is a location that requires a photography permit, in addition to the regular entrance fee. If you want to have a session there, make sure you plan in advance and account for the permit. I will take care of all the filing and paperwork, but it does take time and needs to be done before the session.
Rocky Mountain National Park Engagement
After we took photos in the park, we headed to Trail Ridge Road, which has some incredible overlooks of the rocky mountains. This road closes every winter, so were lucky to have our session before the first big snow. We got to the top just in time for the last bit of sunset. Since there were a few wildfires in the area, the sunset was extra hazy from the smoke. It just made it that much better and more memorable. Jacob and Nicole are getting married at Flying Horse Ranch. I am so excited to photograph them again and be a part of their wedding day!
