June 22, 2022

Glacier National Park Maternity Photographer, The Dittmans

The Dittmans had quite the adventure in order to arrive at their portrait session on time. First, their flight was delayed coming into Missoula, so they arrived a day later than expected, arriving the afternoon of our scheduled session. Along with that flight delay, their luggage somehow managed to not arrive with them, so they had no clothes for the session (though a quick trip to Target on the way to the Flathead Valley made up for that.) Finally, it was the week of historic flooding throughout Montana, making some areas impossible to get to for several days and even weeks, though thankfully that did not impact their drive. I met them at Lake McDonald Lodge, which is where they were staying for the first part of their trip, and they literally arrived 15 minutes before our session. Thankfully, that was just enough time to get settled and we had a delightful evening ahead of us as we documented this time before they moved from a couple to a family of three.

May 11, 2022

Glacier National Park Portrait Photographer, The Rhodes

As you might imagine people arrive in Northwestern Montana from all over the place. Tina and her husband were visiting from the Southeastern United States where the mountains look quite a bit different and the spring climate is dramatically different. No matter, they simply embraced the chilly weather, admired the snow on the mountains across Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, and we had a wonderful morning.

February 15, 2022

Winter Engagement Portraits in West Glacier, Ashlyn & Patrick

Ashlyn & Patrick were recently engaged and in the area so naturally, they wanted some portraits taken in and around Glacier National Park. February weather and all. And like the vast majority of people that find themselves in front of my camera, they claimed to be totally helpless in photos. I had to vehemently disagree, however, as they absolutely nailed their session, especially the in-between moments where I simply take photos while not necessarily giving any direction at all. Just them being their natural selves. Which is actually a big pro tip. Just be yourself if you're having portraits taken, pretend the camera isn't there.

January 13, 2022

Whitefish Portrait Photographer, Ed & Suzette’s 20th Anniversary

This portrait session with Ed and Suzette was perfect for so many different reasons. Not the least of which was they were just a joy to spend a couple of hours with while we all lost feeling in our hands. For one thing, it was a great reminder you don't need to be recently engaged or recently married to have portraits taken. It can be any milestone, such as a 20th anniversary which is very much worth celebrating. It can also be an opportunity to document your vacation to an area that has a dramatically different climate than the one you're used to, and they were certainly not used to a massive powder day in Whitefish. It snowed all day, which was a dream come true for me, because I finally had the opportunity for a portrait session with it actively snowing, which had eluded me up to this point.

Ed's suit was rented from Mimi's Bridal in Kalispell.

December 1, 2021

Glacier National Park Winter Engagement Photographer, Xaviera & Adam

Xaviera & Adam contacted me sort of last minute as they were visiting Whitefish for a quick vacation and visiting wedding venues for a wedding the following year. It'd been a while since I'd had the opportunity to photograph a winter engagement portrait session so I was thrilled that I was available and we made plans to freeze our collective rear-ends off and pay Glacier National Park a visit. In these scenarios, I always feel a little bit bad for the couple who is trying to be cute and handsome in below-freezing temperatures while I get to bundle up as much as possible. And of course, as is often the case in life, the women suffer more than anyone else, as cute women's clothing is typically offers less coverage, and is just generally not as warm, to begin with.

Xaviera and Adam were troopers about it though, and braving the frigid temperatures was totally worth it.

November 5, 2021

Austin Engagement Photographer, Emily & Logan

Another benefit of being in Austin this fall was the serendipitous nature of being in the same general area as one of my couples for this upcoming summer. Emily and Logan had booked me for a July 4th weekend wedding here in Montana and happened to live in the Austin area. It was the perfect opportunity to meet up, knock out an engagement session and get to hang out before the big day in the coming year.

September 8, 2021

Glacier National Park Engagement Photographer, Niva & Vishal

While Northwest Montana—and Glacier National Park in particular—do have a tendency to make the lives of photographers rather easy at times it doesn't mean this vocation isn't without its challenges. For instance, we make up for our lack of sunshine and short days in winter with extremely long summer days. That means scheduling your sunrise session that starts on the East side of Glacier means a 4:00 am or earlier alarm clock wake-up.

All of that said, even when contending with uncooperative weather, and hazy, smoky skies Glacier rarely disappoints. This August morning with Niva and Vishal was no different. I got to hang out with these two for a couple of hours early one morning starting on the East side of the park and heading West and we had a great time discussing Taylor Swift, the differences between Texas and Montana, and the unreal scenery we were surrounded by.

August 15, 2021

Glacier National Park Elopement, Brittany & Jon

Brittany and Jon's July 4th elopement was special for several reasons. One is that I consider any time I get to document such an intimate and important part of anyone's life that is a special thing. Secondly, they're close friends of Marina & David's who might sound familiar from the blog post immediately preceding this one! So it was great to see them again the day after their wedding and spend some more time with them and Sarah Harding who officiated both weddings. Finally, it was just great to get to know Brittany and Jon and spend some time with them in such a special place.

January 6, 2021

Glacier National Park Engagement Photographer, Sofiya & Collin

Living in the Flathead Valley—an area small in population but big on epic views—means the majority of the couples I work with tend to be from far away. This means there isn't often the opportunity to get together for engagement photos prior to the wedding. And while there are always phone calls, texts, emails, and yes videoconferencing that just about everyone grew accustomed to during 2020, there's just no better way to get to know each other than a pre-wedding photoshoot.

So when Sofiya and Collin, who live here in the valley, booked me for their wedding next year and asked for an engagement shoot I couldn't have been happier. The weather was bitter cold, but that's nothing a blanket, some snuggles, and okay plenty of hand warmers couldn't combat.

We had so much fun traipsing around West Glacier and Glacier National Park, I can't wait to party with them here in 2021.

December 11, 2020

Glacier National Park Wedding Photographer, Kaylee & Braxton’s Post-Wedding Portrait Session

Kaylee and Braxton didn't actually elope, bu they were celebrating their honeymoon here in Whitefish. And what is that saying "When in [Whitefish] you do as [Montanans] do." You put on your wedding attire and you book a portrait session in Glacier National Park!

Okay, maybe not everyone does that, but I am so happy these two Texans—by way of D.C.—ended up contacting me for said portraits. Kaylee is a photographer herself so it was really fun to talk a little shop. It was also a little different working with someone who knew just about all the prompts, and what those prompts were trying to accomplish. It made things super quick and efficient which was ideal given that it was below freezing. But I was once again blessed with a couple that was all smiles for miles.

Incidentally I'm so glad my wife insisted on buying a box of the little hand warmers to keep in the car to use for photoshoots. They've come in super handy this winter.

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Matt Wetzler is an editorial, motorsport, portrait, and destination wedding photographer based in Whitefish, Montana.

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