Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get the shot, and sometimes that involves stripping down to your underwear and getting into the water to watch the bride trash her $2,000 wedding dress.

This past weekend I drove 300 miles (each way) to the remote Alaska town of McCarthy to photograph a wedding at the Historic Kennecott Mine. The last 40-50 miles is gravel road that intersects portions of Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, our nations largest national park – almost six times the size of Yellowstone. We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a more idyllic setting for what turned out to be one of the wildest wedding parties I’ve had the pleasure of working with. The bride and her bridesmaids all wore cowboy boots, the couple was transported to the reception in a meat wagon pulled by a four-wheeler, and the fireworks and Fireball Whiskey added just the right amount of Alaskan redneck flare to make it authentic. We topped off the evening by watching the entire wedding party jump into the local swimming hole in full dress. Of course, the only way to properly capture this was to strip down to my underwear and wade into the chest deep water for the best angle. Sometimes you just have to go the extra mile to get the shot, and having such a fun group of people made it that much easier. Congratulations Brian and Sophia, it was an honor and an adventure to photograph your special day.