Banff
Elopements

Why elope in Banff

“Castle hotel. Rocky Mountain backdrop. Light that makes the Rockies glow.”

Banff is Canada's destination wedding capital for a reason: nowhere else in the country puts a Château-style castle hotel against a backdrop of mountains this dramatic. The Fairmont Banff Springs is one of the most architecturally spectacular venues I have ever photographed in, and the surrounding national park gives portrait sessions a landscape context that is simply unmatched on the continent. Emerald Lake Lodge, Canmore's mountain venues, and the peaks themselves all offer something different. I love shooting in Banff in the fall specifically — the larch trees turn gold in October and the mountains behind them go from green to grey-white, and the combination is extraordinary.

The light

Banff's altitude gives the sky a particular depth — bluer and clearer than at sea level — and the mountain landscape creates natural compression in wide-angle shots that makes the scenery look even more dramatic than it does in person. The Bow River at sunset is one of the most reliable golden-hour portrait locations I use anywhere in Canada.