It’s always a good time when you’re able to document times in friend’s lives. Especially if they have been your neighbors for several years! So when Kayla and Bill wanted to set up a session at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge with their sweet pup Coco, I couldn’t have been more excited to do this for them.

We started off at the Parallel Forest out at the Refuge. There, we were able to get some of that gorgeous light filtering through the trees. It was late October, which anyone from the Midwest knows is that perfect fall weather to be outside. I’m sure that even Coco would agree with that!

After we had spent enough time in the forest, we made our way to the famous Petrified Tree on the way out. We were able to let Coco run around some, watch the sunset, and get some pretty dang good shots. (Can we talk about how GORGEOUS the light hitting the red in Kayla’s hair is???)

Even though the tree was removed shortly after this session, it was such a gift to be able to pay tribute to the tree that had been there for generations. The tree may not be there any more, but the connection it brought to many of its visitors will always be remembered.

(You can read more about how to preserve the Wichita Mountains among other National Parks in the future here).

Looking to see some more references for locations at the Refuge? Feel free to keep an eye out on sarazlehleitner.com/blog for updates and new sessions!