It’s been over a year since doing a blog post. My wife and I had our second kiddo… right at the beginning of wedding season so to say things get hectic is an understatement. After getting halfway through this year I realized how much I missed the unique opportunity to tell some of my clients stories and not just a few photos on a sneak peek or a post here or there on Instagram. I’ll still do that too, don’t worry. So, I figured if I was going to jump back in with the blog stuff, I’d do it with one of my favorite shooting experiences of my career. Insert amazing comments about Jordin and Jack meeting me in Zion National Park for their engagement session. I shot a wedding in northern AZ and figured I’d swing up to Zion since it was fairly close and I’d reach out to anyone who wanted to meet me down there for their engagement session. When Jordin and Jack replied yes, it was as if they almost had their bags halfway packed even before the phone call.
The first thing I want to say about Zion NP? Damn, nature. I don’t know if I have been in a more awe-inspiring place in my life. It truly was just a beautiful place with some of the most unique and crazy cool views and hikes. I had a few days in the park before J+J met me down there and I got to scout and experience the park solo. Then came the whole reason why we were there, their engagement session.
We met for drinks the night before because we all like beer. Oh, and also to finalize all of our plans for the next day. We were up for sunrise and did a small hike near our campground which was rad and then we headed out to the east side of the park. Why the hell did we drive 3 hours OUT of the main canyon in Zion for their engagement session you ask? Two reasons. 1. There was construction in the tunnel connecting the west and east sides of the park closing the tunnel. That bottle necked everyone in an already “insanely packed with tourists” National Park. 2. I NEEDED to get to a place that had an epic/ expansive view and there were going to be two places to get it. Angel’s Landing and Overlook Canyon. I had done the Angel’s Landing hike a day earlier and there were soooooo many people on that hike, there was no way that was going to work so Canyon overlook it was. Except that was on the east side of the tunnel and what would usually take 13 minutes to get to… took 3 hours.
It actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because there was virtually no one at the overlook and it was a super easy hike to the view point. We had the place to ourselves to one of the best views in Zion National Park at sunset. I don’t think many people have the chance at that experience. The sunset and experience was so amazing, after I was done shooting their session and the sun went down, I had to stop and journal what we had just done and to soak in the experience. As a portrait photographer I feel that it’s easy to have blinders on and be so focused on “the work” part of it rather than taking in the beautiful places the work takes me. Taking the time to stop, breathe and appreciate my connection to nature is something I’ll try to do more often and that moment in Zion something I’ll never forget. I can still close my eyes and envision my feet hanging off the edge overlooking one of the most beautiful scenes I’ll ever witness.
