Hello Everyone! I am happy to share with you a session from our trip to Utah!  I'm going to be honest, Utah was not exactly where I thought I would be traveling to this year, but I am so happy we did.  Thanks to Brooke for asking if I wanted to go take pictures of the red rocks. After agreeing to go, there was this early statement from my husband, "I'm not sure what you have gotten me into."  He probably should have ended that statement with "again" (I tend to get him and myself into situations). 

We started our travel to the beautiful southern Utah at 10:30pm on Thursday August 24th, we finally arrived at our rented house in Washington, Utah about 20 hours later.  It would have only taken us 8 hours longer if we drove.  The first night Brooke and I were planning on finding the perfect location for our husband and wife elegant session when we stumbled upon Snow Canyon State Park.

Snow Canyon State Park is named after 2 pioneers, not because it snows a lot.  It actually only snows about 4 inches per year, so any of you Yoopers looking for somewhere warm with barely any snow - Utah is it!  The park has a 4 mile drive through with turn offs to hiking/biking trails.  Snow Canyon was our winning location due to the ease of capturing beautiful backgrounds without it being too busy.

On Saturday we got up, waited for Brooke to finish getting ready and set off for Snow Canyon. We were able to start our session not too far from the beginning of the park.  I had to stop for pictures with the green against the red rocks, it makes for such a picturesque scene.

 

It is hard to show the size of the red rocks in a picture, you really need to experience it in person.  We had to be a good distance away from the rocks to be able to capture the top ridges.  

 

Aww, aren't Jim and Brooke so cute?! Now Billy and I are not as cute, but we make do with what qualities we have. Ha. 

By the way, isn't my dress so pretty?!  I have been looking for a dress like this for over a year, and finally found it while shopping down in Appleton, WI in a small boutique store.

Brooke was an amazing assistant.  I was able to set the settings on my camera and give her some direction on what I envisioned in my head (which is hard as a photographer to explain everything you think about) and she succeeded.

This is the road that goes through the park looking north.  As you can see on the left of the picture there is one of those small turn offs I mentioned earlier.  How could you not stop and take in the view?

It is hard to smile and laugh in front of the camera, I know, but Brooke does it so well. It is so satisfying to me to have pictures that show true emotion.  Just looking at the picture makes me giddy!

Here is the same road with the lovely newlyweds. This road is more like 8 miles long because you can go north 4 miles and see one view and turn around and come back down with an entirely different view.

The famous dip pose.  On this session, I had my husband, Billy, do this pose with me for the first time.  I have directed couples to pose in this way many times, and it was quite a different experience being in front of the camera and doing it myself!

My poor Billy with his blue eyes being forced to look into the opposite direction and trying to keep his eyes open.  I, on the other hand have minimal issues with the bright sun due to my brown eyes.

Now this is the view looking south down the road.  So it doesn't appear too different on my pictures here, but again in person is the best way to view it!  Believe me, it is a different view.

Thank you to Brooke, Jim, and Billy for putting up with me and my need to retake pictures until it was how I imagined them! It was without a doubt a session that I will treasure for a long time.