Why It’s Important to Choose a Leave No Trace Aware Photographer
If you’re interested in an outdoors or national park elopement, chances are you love nature just as much as I do. While getting married in a church may feel the most sacred for some, for you, you feel closest to your partner and maybe even your own purpose when you’re in the Great Outdoors. You want to honor that feeling by saying your vows to your person in a place that makes you feel alive.
I totally get it. I have many of those same feelings about enjoying the outdoors! And if you’re anything like me, it’s also important to you to preserve the outdoors so you and others can enjoy it for years to come. Maybe you and your spouse-to-be even dream of taking your future family back to the park where you got married one day! How sweet, right?!
It’s dreams like this that led me to become certified as a Leave No Trace Aware photographer. As someone who spends a lot of time exploring in national parks and protected lands with my amazing couples, I wanted to make sure we were contributing to the preservation of these lands, and not taking away from it. If you are taking adventure engagement photos or having an adventure elopement, it’s absolutely essential to look for a photographer who prioritizes LNT! This can make or break the impact your wedding has on the gorgeous landscapes you love.
What is a Leave No Trace Aware Photographer?
Leave No Trace is an organization that was founded in the mid-1990s to educate people to “value the outdoor experience and the spirit of fellowship it evokes.” Their 7 principles of outdoor ethics are designed to protect trails, wildlife and natural areas while preventing water pollution, forest fires, and overcrowding. While all hikers and outdoorsmen and women should adhere to these principles, adventure photographers like myself spend a great deal of our workdays in the outdoors alongside our couples. So, I took an entire course dedicated to making sure I do that the right way!
Leave No Trace Aware photographers are trained in making sure our shoots get the most epic photos for our couples while making the most minimal impact on the environment we are shooting in. What’s just as cool is the fact that 100% of the proceeds for the certification go directly to the LNT Center for Outdoor Ethics, further supporting the outdoors even more! The LNT Aware Photographer badge signifies that when you work with me, you’re working with someone who will care about the outdoors well just as much as I care about my couples.
The 7 Leave No Trace Principles
There are 7 core LNT principles designed to educate people and protect the outdoors. Each one of them applies to wedding planning in a unique way.
Plan Ahead & Prepare
The first principle focuses on familiarizing yourself with your surroundings on a trail so you don’t get caught unprepared. This means knowing what trail you are going to take ahead of time, the trail’s difficulty level, what kind of weather and difficulty level to anticipate and what supplies you may need to make it a successful hike. Planning ahead keeps us from wandering off-trail, getting lost, being stuck in a dangerous situation or making a negative impact on the local environment.
A Leave No Trace Aware photographer is a PRO at planning ahead for a shoot or elopement! I follow a very detailed process when it comes to scouting trails for your ceremony and couples’ portraits. You will never catch me showing up to a shoot without researching first. I would also recommend that my couples do some researching and planning of their own to take part in the Leave No Trace principles - and feel more confident and stress-free on your day because you know what to expect as well!
Another thing I can help with is the restrictions that come along with permits for getting married in national parks. Things like knowing many parks don’t allow live florals for wedding ceremonies (I’ve written a whole blog about alternative floral options), or that certain areas are off-limits for ceremonies, or that sometimes your number of guests is limited to minimize the impact. It’s little things like this that help the planning process so much when you work with an eco-friendly photographer.
the most epic photos
with the smallest environmental impact
Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces
This principle focuses on staying on the trails designed for us to take in the natural surroundings rather than wandering off trail. It may seem like a harmless thing to do, but did you know simply stepping off trail can sometimes disturb the delicate ecosystem of an area, like the cryptobiotic soil crust in deserts or new plant life that’s trying to grow? It can be so tempting to get a certain shot or use a certain spot off-trail that looks so picturesque. You may think, what impact could just one couple make? The thing is, it rarely just stops there. Someone may see you do it and think it’s okay, or they may see the photo on Instagram and want to recreate it. Next thing you know, many people have gone off trail to that spot, creating a false trail that confuses other hikers or damages local plant life. We don’t want to create that kind of snowball effect, so we’ll ensure the photos we take are in areas designated for use.
Dispose of Waste Properly
Pack it in, pack it out. As an eco-friendly photographer, my couples’ elopements never leave trash behind. Not only do we make sure to “leave it better than we found it,” we’re also following all of the area’s local regulations for protection of the environment. This includes bringing doggie bags to clean up after your pups that come with us on your elopement! We also don’t throw things like confetti, rice or birdseed for photos that are impossible to clean up and will harm the local flora and fauna. Another thing to consider is the waste left behind by things like spraying champagne to celebrate. Corks and sometimes even broken glass can scatter when you do this - and on top of that, the ingredients in champagne aren’t good for local flora and fauna either. If you want a champagne photo without the damage, we can spray carbonated water instead! We can also get fun celebratory photos using things like throwing leaves picked up off the ground or waving ribbon wands. No matter what you choose, we’ll be sure we don’t leave it behind when we go.
Leave What You Find
While it may be tempting to snag a little memento from nature in the park where you get married, like a rock or a wildflower, it’s important to think about the impact it could have on the environment if every park visitor took a souvenir from nature on their visit as well. This principle encourages a “Leave only footprints, take only photos” mindset – a slogan you may have seen on a t-shirt or a camp mug at your favorite outdoors store. It’s more than a saying though! The photos you’ll capture with an eco-friendly photographer during your elopement will be everything you need to remember the day. If you want something tactile, consider having your photos printed in a coffee table book to look back on for years to come. You could also purchase a vintage map of the park that we can use in detail shots and you can frame later, or you could buy a trinket from the park gift shop or a local artisan (which is another way of giving back to the area as a thank you!).
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Not every couple chooses to include a campfire as part of their special day, but for the ones that do, we follow this principle. Campfires can be a cozy, intimate way to celebrate the big day with your partner, and they can make for some gorgeous photos! But if campfires aren’t done right, they can lead to massive effects on the environment – so many forest fires are started because parkgoers didn’t take proper care with fire. If you’re considering photos around a campfire, my Leave No Trace Aware photographer training will help you weigh the fire danger during that time of year, whether fires are allowed in that area and if there’s an existing fire ring to use.
Respect Wildlife
Is there anything more majestic than encountering a wild animal thriving in its home? We want to keep it that way. I’ll help us avoid things like loud noises or music during your ceremony that could disrupt local wildlife. We’ll also be sure to give them plenty of space if we happen to come in contact with them! And we’ll be sure not to leave any trash or food waste behind that will attract unwanted guests.
Be Considerate of Others
While eloping in some national parks will allow you to reserve a certain area all to yourself, often you’re just getting the permit to do so and then holding your ceremony on your favorite trail. This means we’re still sharing the area with other hikers and outdoors adventurers, so we have to be respectful of them as well. One thing I prioritize with my couples though is privacy! I will always do my best to find a secluded spot and help you choose a time that will avoid crowds. We’ll plan a ceremony that surrounds you with the beauty of nature but doesn’t take away from it at all.
Why LNT Principles Matter For Your Adventure Elopement
As you can see, these 7 principles apply to nearly every facet of elopement planning. We both want elopements to celebrate the nature we love, not take away from it! I have seen first hand the impact humans have made on some popular areas that have now become so burdened with traffic or trash that they are forced to close for reforestation or clean up efforts. Following the LNT principles helps ensure that doesn’t happen!
Here’s the thing though. The LNT principles are meant to be helpful for you and the environment - they aren’t here to shame any one. If you have made a mistake before - that’s ok! So have I. The best thing we can do is learn and share that information with others to continue to protect the land.
That’s why working with someone who has Leave No Trace education is so important. That teaching trains us in how the principles apply to elopement photography, how to educate my clients on them, how it impacts location scouting, how to be LNT aware on social media, and how to take epic photos while respecting the environment.
Sharing my love of the outdoors and seeing other people fall in love with it as well is one of my biggest passions. Let’s get you married in a gorgeous location while keeping the outdoors pristine for all who come after us together!