Wahcella Falls Engagement – Columbia Gorge OR | Carissa & Brent

Are you ready to see how amazing this Columbia Gorge adventure photoshoot is?!

SERIOUSLY?!?! These two brought the heat last week and I can’t calm down about it.

I met Carissa through Instagram as she’s a fellow photographer (Carissa Halter Photos) and she wanted to take some photos of my hubby and I. In late spring/early summer of 2019 we met up at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens in Portland. I felt immediately that Carissa had this magnetic energy that I loved. She’s so fun to be around, made us feel comfortable, and in my head I’m like “can i be her best friend?”.

Fast forward a few months and we had been in touch through social media and I asked if her and her man would want to model for me! I knew Carissa was great and knew she had to have a partner that matched up to her awesomeness. I was right. Not only are they both complete naturals in front of the camera, their love and passion for one is undeniable.

I have been wanting to shoot in the gorge for awhile now and am HIGHLY impressed. Wahclella Falls has been closed due to the Eagle Creek Fire for almost 2 years and lucky for us just reopened last week. There was clear evidence, with charred trees everywhere and obvious trail reconstruction- but we made it. It’s a super easy 1 mile hike in with a small incline and some stairs. We went on a Tuesday evening so the trail was fairly quiet, although we did have our fair share of onlookers.

The waterfall was pumping out water in a big way and the growth around the falls appeared to be super healthy which was great to see. To get down to the falls you have to do a little bit of log traversing but its not bad at all. The water was COLD- and we all took a dip to get some killer shots.

Hashtag worth it. These cuties were troopers, especially Brent who did the mile back in soaking wet jeans. Do it for the gram!

Carissa and Brent met in high school but were just friends with no romantic interest involved for years. They used to “jam” in the music room together in high school- umm thats freaking adorable. Years later they went on a friendly trip together and the sparkler that was there all along ignited. I’m a sap, I know. They now live in Oregon with a full furry fam of kitties, doggos, and hamsters!

After getting in clean dry clothes we sped over to Government Cove, chasing the sunlight, and by the time we got there probably had 20 minutes of light left even though the sun was already behind the hills.

And we danced… and we cried (not really)… and we laughed… and had a really really really good time.

I love these two and hope its not our last shoot together because I’d chase sunset with them any day!

xo,

Kels

If you want more information on finding these locations check out and how to have your own columbia gorge adventure photoshoot visit Gorge Friends: https://gorgefriends.org/hike-the-gorge/wahclella-falls-loop.html