Bailey and Tanner Engagements

I don't remember the last time I worked with such a happy, playful, beautiful couple.  They say (whoever "they" is) that smiles are contagious.  I wholeheartedly agree - authentic smiles are contagious.  :)  How could you not smile looking at these two?

 

We started at Vivian Park up Provo Canyon, then worked our way past Sundance and through the Alpine Loop.  One of my all-time favorite places during the fall season.   If you have the chance, the Alpine Loop is even better by motorcycle!

To cheese or not to cheese?  I spent many years of my life trying to be sophisticated, mature, and avoiding cheesy at all costs.  But the older I get, the more I smile when people embrace the cheesy, sappy, silly, playful, ridiculous part of life and relationships.  It's fun.  So, with that in mind, we had to throw the leaves in the air.

 

That's all, folks!

Click here to see more of Bailey and Tanner's engagements

Another Fall Engagement - Julie and Mike

I feel like a giddy little girl every time I drive through the fall leaves!  With Julie and Mike, we started at the bottom of Big Cottonwood Canyon with the intention of shooting up at the top, by Brighton.  But, being overwhelmed with the beautiful surroundings, I, pulled the car to the side of the road about a dozen times before finally getting to the top!  Everywhere I turned was stunning.  The colors, the light, the water...  Big Cottonwood was perfect for photos!

Julie and Mike were great also.  (And didn't call me crazy when I'd stop for a moment and exclaim "Holy crap!  Look at this beautiful place.  This is Utah!  I get to live here."

 

There are several stages to a photoshoot:

1. The planning.  Choosing a location, a time, a day, etc.

2. The preparation.  Being ready for the location, the weather, and any emergencies that might come up.

3. Taking the pictures.  This is the first step that I get really excited about.  As soon as I have a camera in hand, and we are walking through our location, laughing, playing, and shooting, I am happy.  There is nowhere I'd rather be.

4. Importing and sorting the photos.  I usually pass this job on to my assistant, as it is my least favorite part.  He goes through the 600 or so files, finds the best of the set, and rejects any that are duplicates or out of focus.  That leaves me with about 100 to edit.

5. The editing.  This is my Zen place.  I can practically edit while sleeping.  It's some part of my brain that will work in any situation - even if I'm sick, tired, unhappy, or if I'm double tasking and watching a movie!  Editing takes a long time.  And I enjoy it.

6. Social media and blog.  This is when the excitement from step 3 comes back into play.  I'm remembering the moments, the personalities, and the emotions.  I'm sharing the stories, finding the highlights.  As I am writing this blog post I wanted to share the steps and the process with you.  I am exhausted, but as I sit here and relive the experience of Julie and Mike's shoot, I have a huge smile on my face.  My words may not always be eloquent, but I try to share what is behind the photos too - the heart.

And what amazing people these two are!  My favorite part of my job, once again, is getting to meet and have my life influenced by so many different people.

 

When Autumn Leaves Start to Fall

 

Love is in the air!  As a photographer, there is never a season that makes me more excited than just at the end of summer with the first hint of fall.  The sun is shining and there are speckles of yellows and oranges up in Park City.  A perfect day for an engagement shoot.

I love this sequence below!  No, this is not the photo they would put on their announcement, but these are the photos that show life, relationship - MOMENTS.

 

 

 

And the shoes, of course :)

 

Now, we actually had an audience for the Park City Main Street photos.  A group stood behind me trying to figure out how the lights were working and how we could get a decent photo when it was so dark, and another group cheered when they dipped in the middle.  I think it's always fun - and Geoffrey and Lauren seem to be perfect models, they can handle the paparazzi, the attention - makes my job easy!

Will You Marry Me?

(note from Whitney - as I started writing this blog post, it felt like an illustrated children's book.  So I went with it!  My commentary may seem a little bit different than usual...)  

A beautiful room, upstairs at La Caille,  Geoffrey anxiously waits for Lauren to arrive.  She thinks she is there for a tour of the reception venue, little does she know...

The first words out of her mouth were "What are you doing here?"  Which she repeated 3 times.  Geoffrey smiled, took her hand, and walked her over to the tv where they watched a movie he made.

Then there was dancing.

And she said yes!

She was definitely surprised!

And they were happy.

And excited.

Geoff and Lauren, Cheers!  Today is the first day of the rest of your life :)

Spring Engagements - Maria and Todd

As a photographer, I have a rule about wedding days - I am not allowed to go to sleep until every photo from the day is imported and organized on my computer.  So, here I am at 4:30 am with a smile on my face, importing 150 GB of photos from an amazing wedding day!  Maria and Todd were married today in Wanship, a beautiful little hidden community tucked away in the canyon just past Park City.  I was in heaven.  A wedding day with an incredibly picturesque landscape, filled with Swedish food, dancing around the maypole, and drinking song!   So many photos, I'm excited to go through them!

For now, here's a few highlights from Maria & Todd's engagements this spring.  These two were so sweet, I love how Maria never stops smiling!

 

We did the photos up Provo canyon, in the Alpine loop - Sundance, Aspen Grove, Timpanogos Trailhead, and wherever we could find to stop on the side of the road!

 

Congratulations to Maria & Todd!

Engagements: Natalie and Steven

Another Engagement session!  Yes, 'tis the season of Spring love.

I like to tell the engaged couple that our session is just "supervised flirting" and they are responsible for being playful and making each other laugh.   Natalie and Steven were quite cute with it. They flirted and played all throughout City Creek and the Gallivan Center downtown.  And it was a beautiful, beautiful day.

 

  

Going through so many engagement sessions this month, we plan to announce a special tomorrow!  Keep your eyes open, we will have an 80% discount for engagement sessions scheduled for the week of May 18!  Only those 7 days.  We will have lots of playful photos, and we are excited for this whirlwind week.  Check back tomorrow for details :)

And congratulations Natalie and Steven!

Engagements - Downtown Salt Lake

I had a lot of fun working with Kenzie and Alex.  It was the evening after our most recent bridal show, so an extremely long day.  We were sleep deprived and completely drained of energy from talking to people all day.  But what an INCREDIBLE day!  Then Kenzie and Alex show up with these beautiful smiling faces and all the energy came back!  It was a whirlwind hour full of enthusiasm, we just ran around downtown (started at the Capitol  and ended at the Gallivan Center).

 

One of my favorite things about shooting downtown is that it's no problem if we go past sunset!  There are plenty of other lights to play with.  We bring off camera flashes, of course, but it's the lights in the background that make the night photos interesting.

Click here to check out more of Kenzie and Alex's engagement photos

Engagements - Becca and Todd

Engagements at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and surrounding areas.  Becca and Todd were delightful - they were dancing and laughing... made me smile throughout the whole session.  If we can all be happy, photoshoots are fun!  It doesn't even feel like work.

 

Here's a fun story:  These two met online (rather common for many of the couples I come across these days!) and there first date was ... wait for it ... to the DMV.  They renewed their licenses together at the start of the relationship.  I think that's kind of adorable!

 

Lexi & Brett Engagements

  There are not words to express what it was like to do the wedding photos for this couple.  Lexi is a dear friend, an amazing person, a super-mom, and I couldn't be happier to see her with Brett, who is an equally outstanding human!  And the personality of Lexi's little girl... well, it doesn't get more adorable than her.  I'll let the photos do the talking now: