This whole session started with a very unassuming text to Nikki over at Dark Knits. It was a quiet few weeks at the end of February, and I was itching to get out of the city, at least for the day. A moment later, the reply: "Come over, I can get you a bag of goodies to shoot."
A few weeks later, with Emily, Sam, Amanda and I shoved into my hatchback, we sped out towards Nordegg. I think we drove through every kind of weather on our way. From sunny, but wickedly windy, to almost white out conditions, we saw it all. We stopped in Rocky Mountain House, grabbed a coffee, and the three passengers in my car rearranged so that Emily could braid Amanda's hair into a crown. Filled with a large coffee and a McDonald's hashbrown, the four of us hit Highway 11, also known as David Thompson Highway, and about an hour later, we turned left into Nordegg.
With no real plan - this was only my second time in Nordegg ever - I turned onto the Quarry Road. Which I think is actually private property, but alas, no one really cared. We went all the way up the road to where the entrance to the quarry was, turned around, and then parked about halfway up the road. The four of us split up at that point. Sam and Amanda headed into the greener spruce trees, and Emily and I chose to stay in the more deciduous area. The inspiration, at least for me, was winter faerie, kind of boudoir-y. Basically, dark makeup and crowns.
After Emily and I got our shots, she went and sat in the front seat of my car with the butt warmer on and the heat cranked up. It was cold, and I have a tendency to pick the most frigid of days.
Once Sam and Amanda had warmed up in the car with us, we split up again, this time Emily went off with Sam, and Amanda came down into the spruce trees with me.
Afterwards, we all piled back into the car, and the decision was made to go further down the highway, stopping where we thought would make a great location for a few more shots. Turns out, that the David Thompson Highway is not very busy on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-March, so we ended up parking on the side of the road near a scenic lookout point.
Sam was a good sport all day. He put up with the three of us weirdos, and we managed to get him to wear one of the crowns for a couple fun shots.
It was a little eerie to be out in these very popular hiking areas with nobody else on the roads. We headed back to Nordegg, refueled the car, and then drove the three hours back to the city. It was such a fun little adventure, and I'm so glad I was able to spend it with some really great friends.