Park City Engagement Session [Utah Engagement Photographer]
Couples, Engagements Emily Jenkins Couples, Engagements Emily Jenkins

Park City Engagement Session [Utah Engagement Photographer]

Sydney and Erik got engaged this spring after dating for about a year! They met on a dating app and are such a fun couple! Sydney is also a videographer (you can check out her work HERE) and we met while shooting a wedding together! Erik and I went to high school together but were a year apart and didn’t know each other. So it is SO fun seeing them together! Sydney has been teaching Erik how to do videography so he can be her wingman and they’re both so talented.

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How to Elope in the Redwoods
Bridals, Elopements, Wedding Emily Jenkins Bridals, Elopements, Wedding Emily Jenkins

How to Elope in the Redwoods

The Redwoods are a perfect place to elope or have a small, intimate wedding with your closest friends and family! The trees are just insanely tall and wide and it’s pretty amazing. The other great thing about the Redwoods (in the summer) is that the tall trees cover some of the sun keeping it a bit cooler and you’ll be less sweaty. If you’re looking at eloping in the Redwoods, here are some tips!

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Cape Kiwanda, Oregon Coast Engagements [Oregon Elopement Photographer]
Beach, Couples, Engagements Emily Jenkins Beach, Couples, Engagements Emily Jenkins

Cape Kiwanda, Oregon Coast Engagements [Oregon Elopement Photographer]

Madison & Jake recently moved to Portland, Oregon from Texas. They have been trying to get to know their new state and so we did a couples shoot at Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City, Oregon. It’s one of my favorite places on the Oregon coast. There’s a ton of stuff do just on the beach. Lots of people will do fires with hot dogs and s’mores on the beach while watching surfers in the water.

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4 Reasons to Plan a Couples Shoot on Your Utah Vacation
Couples, Travel Rachel Cottrell Couples, Travel Rachel Cottrell

4 Reasons to Plan a Couples Shoot on Your Utah Vacation

Planning your next vacation in Utah? Well, you should add a photoshoot to your plans! Utah has a wide array of climates, seasons and landscapes, making for excellent vacations and photo shoots. Here are 4 reasons why while you are on your vacation, you should plan doing a couple shoot for you and your significant other. There are many reasons why booking a couple shoot on a vacation is a good idea, especially when visiting Utah. So, if you’re looking for a great way to remember your time in Utah, highlight adventures, capture and share memories, or keep a travel log, contact me and we can set up a session!

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Why You Should do a Vow Renewal
Couples, Portraits Rachel Cottrell Couples, Portraits Rachel Cottrell

Why You Should do a Vow Renewal

Have you ever thought about doing a vow renewal? Many couples decide that the perfect way to celebrate an anniversary is by recommitting to one other. Here are a few reasons why a vow renewal might be the perfect decision for you and your special someone. Take a step away from your busy lives, spend some quality time together and remember why you fell in love. So if it is your 2nd, 5th, 10th, 25th, or even 50th wedding anniversary, reaffirm your love to your spouse and plan a vow renewal. You won’t regret it!

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Everything You Need to Know About Eloping in Zion National Park
Elopements Rachel Cottrell Elopements Rachel Cottrell

Everything You Need to Know About Eloping in Zion National Park

Zion National Park in Utah is an excellent place to elope! With gorgeous scenery and plenty of activities, an unforgettable experience awaits you and your lover at this perfect Utah elopement location. Here is everything you need to know when eloping in Zion National Park. Zion National Park is truly an incredible place to visit and a perfect place for an elopement! You won’t be short on wild adventures, good food, and gorgeous photos!

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Why you Should do Your Engagement Session at the Salt Flats
Couples, Portraits Rachel Cottrell Couples, Portraits Rachel Cottrell

Why you Should do Your Engagement Session at the Salt Flats

The Bonneville Salt Flats is a stunning natural landmark that is completely unique to Northwestern Utah. Just a short drive from Salt Lake City, the Salt Flats is a 30,000 acre stretch of salt-covered land. The Salt Flats are a photographer’s dream: a stunning, vast, landscape of pure-white ground. It’s no wonder that this area is a major hot spot for pictures.

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Elope on the Oregon Coast [Oregon Elopement Photographer]
Elopements, Pacific Northwest Emily Jenkins Elopements, Pacific Northwest Emily Jenkins

Elope on the Oregon Coast [Oregon Elopement Photographer]

The Oregon coast is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen with it’s often overcast skies, sometimes light rain, big crashing waves, sea stacks, and pine trees on the coastline. It gives me all the moody feels and it just makes me feel really happy and content. I can’t think of a better place to elope than on the Oregon coast and Cannon Beach is definitely one of the most beautiful beaches in the Pacific Northwest, with it’s famous Haystack Rock and other sea stacks along the beach.

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What to Wear to Your Engagement Session
Engagements Rachel Cottrell Engagements Rachel Cottrell

What to Wear to Your Engagement Session

Where the wedding day is all about the celebration, the time before you gear into full-on bride mode is a lovely period of excitement all surrounding your love for each other. You’re simply focused on your recent engagement and your hopes and dreams together for the future. That’s one of the reasons I LOVE capturing couples in engagement sessions and couples sessions — it’s just the two of them, so I get to see their relationship and love for each other from front row seats.

For most of my clients, their engagement session pictures are their first time getting professional photos taken, so the unknown can seem a little daunting. I do my best to help every client feel at ease through our communication to the point where my engagement sessions are strictly fun and love and lots of natural posing.

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Why You Should Plan a Utah Elopement
Elopements Rachel Cottrell Elopements Rachel Cottrell

Why You Should Plan a Utah Elopement

It’s no secret that I love to shoot elopements, especially in my lovely home state of Utah! Elopements are the perfect solution to the overwhelming pressure of a traditional wedding day. Having lived in Utah almost my entire life, I’ve been to my fair share of weddings — we tend to have a lot of them here. They’re often big, overblown affairs that are perfectly suited to each couple, or rather, their families and all involved in the planning process. An elopement is more about the two of you, and your relationship and what’s important to you, rather than the latest trends in tablescapes.

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Why You Shouldn't Skip Doing an Engagement Session
Engagements Rachel Cottrell Engagements Rachel Cottrell

Why You Shouldn't Skip Doing an Engagement Session

I get it — the attention and spotlight on you guys has quadrupled since announcing your engagement and now the pressure is on to start wedding planning immediately! All the questions are coming at you fast: where will the wedding be? When is your wedding? Do you have a dress? Where are you two going to live?

You have a lot to deal with in the coming months, but I’ve got a little secret: starting off your engagement with a photography session with just the two of you will be the best way to ease into all the attention and decisions that need to be made. Don’t believe me? I’ve got proof to back it up.

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3 Places to Elope on the Oregon Coast
Elopements Rachel Cottrell Elopements Rachel Cottrell

3 Places to Elope on the Oregon Coast

Elopements are a beautiful adventure for couples who are wanting to start their journey together in a uniquely personal and epic way. Most couples that choose to elope crave a day that reflects who they are and what their relationship is. Couples who choose elopement are usually ones that value a true experience they can remember forever. If you are a couple who envisions your elopement to be one where you are running around in the waves, getting your dress dirty, hiking through the rain, dancing in a cave, and exploring new places, the Oregon Coast is the perfect location for your elopement.

The Oregon Coast is one of the most beautifully adventurous locations the west coast has to offer. With quaint and funky small beach towns, hidden coves, beach caverns, mountainous landscapes, and the rough and rocky beaches, this place is nothing short of perfect for an adventurous elopement. Here are my three favorite places for elopements on the Oregon Coast.

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Eloping at the Salt Flats in Utah
Emily Jenkins Emily Jenkins

Eloping at the Salt Flats in Utah

Elopements are becoming more and more popular, especially with how crazy 2020 was! I love that they’re becoming more common because I think they’re the best way to get married, especially for people who want the day to be more personal and about them and their love. It’s a way to focus on the most important things like being with your closest loved ones, the adventure of being in a new place or one that you already love, and of course, your commitment to your partner.

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7 Locations for the Best Couples or Engagement Shoot in Utah
Couples, Engagements Rachel Cottrell Couples, Engagements Rachel Cottrell

7 Locations for the Best Couples or Engagement Shoot in Utah

Oh, Utah! What a magnificent place to live and an even better place to be a photographer! There are so many incredible locations for couples + engagement photoshoots in Utah. From the red desert to the pine-covered mountains, with the wildflower spring fields, and of course the unearthly Salt Flats--Utah leaves nothing to be desired for beautiful landscapes that are perfect for photoshoots. I've narrowed down my top 7 favorite photoshoot locations for couples + engagements that will give you a little of everything incredible Utah has to offer.

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Five Reasons You Should Do a Couples Shoot on Your Honeymoon
Couples Rachel Cottrell Couples Rachel Cottrell

Five Reasons You Should Do a Couples Shoot on Your Honeymoon

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! This is a wonderful time for you, and an exciting beginning to the next phase of your life. During this special time, it’s so important to live in the moment and not get caught up in the stress of wedding planning, what comes next, or what everyone else is thinking. That’s part of the reason I love photographing newlyweds and couples so much — we get the chance to document your relationship without the stress of remembering every tiny detail because it’s captured forever in a lovely photo gallery.

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