I was blown away by these photos. You will be too. It's inevitable. The combination of the breath-takingly beautiful, isolated location, the gorgeous, loved up couple, the story of the reluctant groom and the photography by Kyle Hepp is nothing short of INCREDIBLE.

I'm pretty sure that Claire had to either bribe or torture Esteban into doing this session. He really doesn't like having his photo taken AT ALL. So for their trash the dress shoot, she emailed me to ask if I could find a place that looked nice and green and natural…and also somewhere very isolated so Esteban would feel more comfortable.

We live in Santiago, Chile, which can sometimes be described as a dusty urban sprawl, and pretty much crawling with people ~ basically the opposite of what they wanted. So in the end we decided to drive a ways out of the city. A faaaaaar ways. The light up in the mountains was lovely and soft and it was a nice cool afternoon. Added bonus, very few cars passed us so Esteban was good to go! Claire and Esteban have now been married for just over a year so this shoot was a really nice way for them to commemorate their anniversary!

Claire kindly shared her side of the story…

The farther in you drive, the more beautiful it gets, with a rocky riverbed, cottonwoods and breathtaking glaciers and mountains in the distance. We drove and drove and drove, the four of us in our little Toyota Yaris. {Kyle works alongside her husband, Seba.}

As the buildings and people began to disappear, we stopped by the side of the road and I changed into my dress. I had brought my shoes but on the rocky, glacial soil, they seemed absurd so I kept with my Rainbow flip flops. Far from going unnoticed, our first shots elicited horn honking and cat calls from passers by. But it no longer seemed to matter. We waved and received their congratulations, over a year after tying the knot! The best was the cat call for Esteban, “Bueno el novio!” which you might translate as “Good looking groom!”. Thus began a great session in the midst of breathtaking scenery.


Esteban enjoyed himself, which shows in his face, which was much sillier than during our engagement session and when all of our guests were watching us from the cocktail hour on the balcony at our wedding. I think all four of us were jazzed by the scenery. Everything seemed so perfect, especially when we took some pictures at a plaster mine, which provided some appropriate imagery since Esteban is a mining engineer.

I believe the session was a challenge for Kyle and Seba, one which they rose to. Each photo op was just a minute or two and then we were running after Esteban to the next amazing location. We found grass and waved at two huasos on horseback who didnt seem phased at all by our presence. Climbing a big hill, Esteban broke his shoe!

As Kyle said on her blog, the best moment was when we had already called it a day and suddenly Esteban scouted a new location and pulled the car over. Shock! For me that was the best gift ever, that and these amazing photos. So I would say that for all the grooms out there who are feeling less than enthused about having your picture taken, it's worth it! Of course the key in this case were Kyle and Seba who are oh so talented and also friends who put us at ease.

How lucky I am to have a sweet (and good looking!) husband, talented friends and of course to live in a country as beautiful and diverse as Chile. Hooray!

Claire, you and Esteban are very lucky to have found each other, what a wonderful couple you make…it looks like you had such fun doing this!

Thank you Claire and Esteban, wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness and a HUGE thank you to Kyle and Seba for sharing some of the most amazing photography I ever seen…

Have you caught your breath yet?!

Visit Kyle Hepp's website to find out more and visit the blog for all her most recent shoots. {Kyle also took part in a Bridal Musing's Glimpse Behind the Lens, check it out to discover her inspiration and see a selection of her favourite ever images.}