The Oregon Coast boasts many beautiful locations for an engagement shoot, and Samuel H Boardman State Park is no exception. This engagement shoot was a bit longer than my typical engagement sessions, because Samuel H Boardman State Park is quite large and we wanted to get as much out of it as possible in the time that we had. (I also way over-budgeted the hiking time and travel to each spot because I didn’t want to be stressed.)
We went to three locations in the State Park for this engagement session. But ended up only shooting photos at two of them. Natural Bridges in Samuel Boardman is a cool hiking area but not great for lowkey photos as much of it is steep and shrouded in trees and bushes. The actual arch making up the bridges is pretty scary too, so definitely geared towards more advanced hikers.
This first location we stopped nearly took my jaw right off my face. It was SO green, covered in grass and wide expansive views of the rocky coastline. I had budgeted 25 minutes hike in and 25 minutes hike out for this spot, but we ended up not needing much of that time. The entire in and out was probably under 30 minutes total. Better to have and not need than the alternative though! We both traveled several hours to this location, and there was over an hour delay with traffic for both of us so having that lengthy time budget was super helpful. Being based in Bend, Oregon I always assume traveling to these destinations will take longer than the map says just because you never know what will happen on your trip. Usually nothing delays me and I just have some nice relaxing explore time before the photoshoot which I’m never mad about 🙂 Thats another thing I love about being a destination photographer, getting to explore places and calling it work!
Living in Bend, Oregon I’m used to photographing in the sun but I was prepared to do this photoshoot in the rain since the Oregon Coast is usually rainy— we somehow had full sun the entire time? Luckyy
I only shoot on digital cameras currently, but i love the way film looks and so i often will pull out some panty hose and use it to filter harsh light. Here you can see it offering such a delightful softness to the image. It is not for everyone, and I certainly do not use it on every single photo but I love the variety it gives a gallery!
One awesome thing I was not expecting is the lack of people here! We saw one other person at this location. I guess that is what you get on a weekday in March. As a destination elopement photographer I always recommend shooting for days like this where you can minimize crowds. Even photographing engagements and elopements here in my home town Bend, Oregon, I try to schedule your photo sessions around the tourists. Its so much fun to focus on the beauty of the location rather than worry about the crowds, don’t you agree?
If you want to see the other location we went to for this engagement shoot at Samuel H Boardman Park, come back soon to see when I blog it next!
Planning your own wedding and looking for some epic engagement session locations? Lets chatt
