The Spring Family {October 1, 2017}

October 18, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ Leave a comment

Say hello to the Spring family! One of my favorite parts of my job is being able to watch families grow each year through family portraits, and I’ve been lucky enough to see this one do just that! This is the first session I’ve done with them since they became a family of four. Houston is such a cutie. He wasn’t too interested in taking photos, but was very interested in the mulch and dirt. What kid isn’t though? Ha! I love how the photos turned out! Thanks Spring family for letting me take your family photos.

Here are some photos from the session:

www.samanthakurtz.com | www.blog.samanthakurtz.com
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Please do not crop, edit, or alter the image(s) in any way. All images and their copyrights are the property of Samantha Kurtz Photography, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Gaby: Bridal {September 2, 2017}

October 16, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ Leave a comment

Say hello to this gorgeous bride, Gaby! You may recognize her from her engagement session last fall. For her bridal session, we went to one of my favorite location for bridals in Tulsa, the Gilcrease Museum. It was a cool September day, which was quite abnormal for that time of year, but perfect for a bridal session. Gaby looked absolutely stunning in her dress! I loved all the lace details on the dress and the veil. Thanks Gaby for letting me a part of your wedding!

Here are some photos from the bridal session:

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The King Family {September 24, 2017}

October 5, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ Leave a comment

Say hello to the King family! You may recognize them from their maternity session last year. For this session, we celebrated Harrison’s big first birthday with a cake smash session. Harrison was the happiest baby I’ve photographed. He was so smiley! I definitely think he enjoyed himself and his first taste of cake! Thanks, King family for letting me capture this special moment for you guys. Happy first birthday, Harrison!

Here are some photos from the session:

Katelyn: Bridal {August 26, 2017}

October 2, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ Leave a comment

Say hello to this gorgeous bride, Katelyn! For her bridal session, we went to Centennial Park in Tulsa, which was also the location of her wedding. I love how these photos turned out! She looks absolutely stunning in the photos. At the end of the session, she didn’t even want to get out of her dress like most brides do. Thanks for letting me be a part of your big day Katelyn!

Here are some photos from the session:

Canyonlands National Park + Independence Pass

September 28, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ Leave a comment

For day four of our best friend trip, Katie and I had an early start at Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands is divided into four districts: Island in the Sky, The Maze, The Needles, and The Rivers (Green and Colorado rivers). There are no roads that link each section of the park, so keep that in mind while visiting. We decided to visit the Island in the Sky section, as it was the closest to Moab. The 34-mile round trip scenic drive was gorgeous. There were many overlooks to stop at, as well as a few trailheads if you wanted to hike. I definitely recommend the short, quick hike to Mesa Arch. *Tip: I recommend using a map to get to, from, and around the park. Your GPS will get you lost.* After we spent a few hours at Canyonlands we headed back to the cabin for the night.

On day five we drove another five hours east to Colorado Springs to visit my dear friend, Caitlyn and her sister Heather and her family. We took Independence Pass, the highest paved pass in North America. It passes over North America’s Continental Divide, which the geology nerd in me loved. It was the most gorgeous drive I’ve been on. I highly recommend it.

So without further ado, here are the last three days of our best friend road trip.

Our first viewpoint featuring White Rim Road. For those who have multiple days to devote here and don’t mind a soft, narrow, and rugged road, White Rim Road is a great option.
Mesa Arch was gorgeous! A popular sunrise spot (I can definitely see why). We arrived around 9 a.m. to Mesa Arch and still had gorgeous morning light.

Buck Canyon Overlook

On our last night in Norrie, I had to photograph some of the gorgeous Aspen trees. There was also a mountain rain shower that ended with a beautiful rainbow. What a gorgeous farewell, Norrie!

Independence Pass was stunning. The road is paved the entire way, but is narrow and doesn’t have guard rails at times. So keep your speed in check, though that wasn’t an issue for us, as we were gawking at the gorgeous sights!

We got to spend a wonderful 24 hours in Colorado Springs with these lovely people! I’m sad it wasn’t a longer stay, but am glad we got to see them. Heather made us a delicious homemade Indian meal. They definitely always spoil their guests.

Heather runs a lifestyle and fashion blog over at The Arbitrary Fox. You should definitely head over to the site and check out her fun style and gorgeous family!

Heather’s two dogs, Gretta and Buffy were upset they weren’t invited to be outside with us humans.

That’s all for this trip. Until the next adventure!

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Arches National Park

September 25, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ 1 Comment

Katie and I headed five hours west to Arches National Park in Utah for day three of our best friend road trip. Arches National Park has always been high on my list of “must see first” national parks, and I was thrilled to finally be seeing it. It did not disappoint. Luckily, we were staying in a nearby town, Moab, for the night, so we had all day to explore this park. Arches National Park has the most natural stone arches in close proximity in the world. There was a cold front that moved in mid-morning, so we had an unusually cool, cloudy day at the park. Katie and I definitely enjoyed that. We spent 5.5 hours driving around the park and leisurely hiking to some of the arches.

So without further ado, here is day three of our best friend road trip.

First stop was The Courthouse Towers, which provides the first grand view of the park.

The next section of the park was The Windows Section. It is home to some of the largest arches in the park: North Window, South Window, Turret Arch and Double Arch. There were short trails that led to the arches in this section. You can walk right up to them and even climb up some of the rocks.

Hi, mini Katie!

Next section was the Fiery Furnace Section. It provides a view of the Salt Valley overlook and the famous Delicate Arch. We sadly were running out of daylight to hike to Delicate Arch, so we didn’t get to see this one. Next visit though!

The last section of the park was the Devils Garden. Here many trails, both easy and more difficult, branch off for continued explorations. We enjoyed walking around while the sun was setting.

As we were leaving the park, we were fortunate to see a grand, final display of Arches National Park at sunset.

That’s all for this day! Part three is coming soon.

Rocky Mountain/Black Canyon National Parks + Norrie, CO

September 21, 2017 ~ Samantha Kurtz ~ Leave a comment

Early September my best friend of 22 years, Katie, and I took a best friend road trip to Colorado and Utah. Now, this best friend road trip has been 10 years in the making. We have been wanting to do a best friend road trip together since we were fifteen. Katie and I have taken plenty of weekend road trips, but this is our first six-day adventure! We definitely made the most of it! We landed in Denver at 7:15 a.m. and we were immediately off to our first destination, Rocky Mountain National Park. We ended day one with a four-hour trek west to Katie’s family cabin in Norrie, CO. Day two we visited Maroon Bells in Aspen, CO., Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and eventually back to the cabin. As always, links to everywhere we went will be in the post. So without further ado, here is day one and two of our epic best friend road trip.

We arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park around 10:30 local time. We only did the scenic drive via Trail Ridge Road, as we were sadly limited on time at this park.

Unfortunately, there were nearby fires in Colorado, so we didn’t get to see Rocky Mountain in its full glory, but nonetheless the views were majestic.

Middle photo: Katie naturally had to climb up any rock she could.

Luckily, our trip fell during the beginning transition of the leaves from summer to fall. I just love Aspen trees!

Day two: We started the day with a 4 a.m. wake up call to get to Maroon Bells by sunrise. The view was 100 percent worth the lack of sleep! It is hands down one of the top five most gorgeous views I’ve ever seen.

Next we headed to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Here we had quite the shambley experience as we ended up on the wrong side of the canyon. (Two hours off of where we were suppose to be). Moral of the story, don’t trust Siri with directions to this park. Luckily, both Katie and I are extremely laid back so we went along with this minor hiccup. We ended up on the north side of the canyon and did the North Rim Road. The North Rim Road consisted of a gravel road, whereas the South Rim Road has a paved road and more amenities (more ranger stations, gift shop, etc.) Either side of the canyon provides grand views of the canyon.

Photos don’t do this canyon justice. The view down is a little unsettling. (Honestly gave me mild anxiety if I looked too long. Ha!) This canyon is narrow in comparison to the Grand Canyon, and with that you can literally look straight down 2,000+ feet.

Fun fact: This canyon is constantly eroding deeper each year thanks to the Gunnison River, but strangely enough it is not eroding nearly as quickly width wise. I can’t imagine in five or 10 years how even more unsettling the view down will be.

At the end of day two, we headed back to Norrie, CO. Unlike the first day, we actually drove back before dark so I got to see the mountains around where we were staying. Norrie is a colony in Colorado. Katie and her family own a cabin in the colony. I have heard of the cabin in Norrie since elementary school because Katie and her family always visited in the summer. It was a neat experience to finally see where Katie spent every summer growing up. I definitely understand the appeal of the place. The river and reservoir amongst the grand mountain range, it draws you in and embraces you like an old friend.

Left: Entrance to Norrie. Right: the lovely cabin we stayed in

The Fryingpan River runs right behind the cabin. I loved listening to the river all night. It was so relaxing. The water though was frigid. Thus, I didn’t venture in much more than the photo on the right. Also note, Katie and her pizza in the left photo.

That’s all for this part of the trip. Part two is coming soon!

www.samanthakurtz.com | www.blog.samanthakurtz.com
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Please do not crop, edit, or alter the image(s) in any way. All images and their copyright are property of Samantha Kurtz Photography, LLC. All rights reserved.