PRE-WEDDING IN THE ARAN VALLEY
MARIA & LAURENÇ

When María and Laurenç hired me to photograph their wedding in the Aran Valley, we talked about doing a special pre-wedding session or adventuresf2 as I call them.

Many of you don’t know it but before dedicating myself to wedding photography I worked for 10 years as a freelance snowboard and ski photographer, so every time I have a wedding in the Aran Valley I get very, very happy.

My first wedding in Vall d’aran was this one with María and Victor, of which I will always have great memories.

Once we took the photos, I asked María and Laurenç to tell me what living in the mountains meant to them. So with the help of my great friend Javier Mariscal Ariza we shaped this audiovisual.

And as María says in the audiovisual (and I totally agree):

“Being able to be among the mountains, enjoying its landscapes and its silence is…. A GREAT PRIVILEGE.”

Turn up the volume and enjoy the photos and the words of María and Laurenç.

Photographing an adventure like this is not easy at all so I am going to tell you a little about the whole process.

Since I had to travel to the Aran Valley (where they live) we had to fine-tune the chosen date. Since December, María and I have spent our days reviewing forecasts to see when the ideal time would be. A winter with little precipitation and high temperatures did not help much. In the end we were at the end of February without giving us the opportunity.

Suddenly, on the first week of March, we saw that there was a good forecast of snowfall and that it would clear on Sunday, so we got down to work and prepared our plan.

María suggested that I go up to the Saboredo Shelter to sleep. So we took advantage of the next day to take photos, I thought it was a great idea.

Saboredo is a mythical refuge in the Valle d’Aran that gives access to incredible terrain.

So after traveling all Friday I met Maria and Laurenç at the last minute, we prepared the plan for the next day.

After snowing all night, we headed to the Baqueria Beret station to do a few descents and enjoy the snow before heading to the Refuge.

At the station there was little visibility so we decided to be calm and enjoy the day, while we took some photos.

Suddenly we saw that the weather was beginning to improve so we pulled down to put ourselves in traverse mode and go up towards the Refuge.

When we started our way everything was enjoyment, the forecast was that it would take about 3 hours and a half more or less…. So we stopped to take photos.

And although the weather was getting worse when we arrived at this forest, the atmosphere was so magical, so we stopped to take some more photos…..

That was when we realized that after more than 3 hours of walking we still had almost half the way left, we had taken it too easy.

We knew that the night would come upon us, but in addition to being well equipped for the cold and the night, we were lucky to have the track opened by a group that had climbed before and despite the fact that it did not stop snowing we could orient ourselves well.

So with high spirits (as you can see in the first clip) and without falling apart we continue up.

After more than 6 hours of effort, we finally arrived very tired at the Saboredo hostel but the dinner and the good forecasts for the next day made our morale very high.

When we got up, the views through the window were incredible….a clear day with an incredible quality of snow….so we took the opportunity to take some photos as a couple and study the area through which we would descend.

After the session and some technical problems with a boot, we got down to work, little by little we gained height until we reached the descent line we wanted to do.

And after that it was all fun downhill and both here and in the video you can see the beautiful areas we passed through and that made the day one that we will never forget.