From Willow River to Taylors Falls, western Wisconsin and its neighboring regions offer plenty of scenic destinations for weddings and elopements. Local wedding adventure photographers are taking full advantage.

When Samantha Burke started working her first job after graduation, she grew frustrated with having to ask for time off. Burke said she didn’t get paid time off for her first year at a company, so she took an unpaid absence when the opportunity to go to Italy arose.

She quickly realized that a more conventional work experience wasn’t for everyone — her included. And now, Burke has a full-time career in what she calls “wedding and elopement adventure photography.” How does Burke describe her line of work?

“Adventure weddings and elopements, it’s kind of fun, because adventure can mean different things for different people,” Burke said. “I like to think of it as taking a wedding experience and making it intentional and full of connection and things that make you happy. Just starting your marriage off with an adventure — with a bang.”

Couples also like to incorporate hobbies that they enjoy, such as canoeing and camping. The photographer can often help plan the experience, booking things and suggesting locations that match what the couple is looking for in an experience.

Cassandra Oldenburg of Narrow Leaf photography describes it as an “unconventional approach to weddings,” whether that’s hiking, kayaking or even helicopter elopements.

For Oldenburg, her favorite place she’s been to for photography is Iceland. And she said her most popular spots in the local region are the St. Croix River Valley and the North Shore.

Burke couldn’t narrow down her favorite destination to take photos while on assignment, so she listed three: Hawaii, Utah and the North Shore in Minnesota. In Hawaii, Burke traveled to O‘ahu and photographed a couple on a lesser-known beach. The couple went into the water with their wedding clothes on and climbed up on rocks.

Anna Scheunemann, along with her husband, Richard, hired Burke for adventure elopement photography as well. They all went out to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. Scheunemann said she and her husband are pretty outdoorsy and wanted a more private elopement ceremony, which led to them choosing the adventure photography experience.

“I loved the way she was able to capture the essence of the wilderness wherever different couples were,” Anna said. “Along with the photos of the wedding, I wanted to be able to look in my house, have different scenery from the area that we had eloped and I thought that a lot of her photos, yes, captured the couple, but also captured really cool backdrops.”

The Knot, a wedding planner site, conducted a 2022 survey that found 83% of its Gen Z correspondents said photo or video is the most important element of a wedding. And as couples pursue less conventional wedding experiences, Oldenburg brings up a good point.

“The way of getting married used to be this very structured [method of] ‘this is what you did, this is how you spend, this is a societal norm,’” Oldenburg said. “And I think, nowadays, people are really starting to appreciate more experiences over maybe social norms or stuff. … We’re seeing this sort of change in the industry.”