Pacific North West Trip | Destination Photography | Oregon + Washington

Those that follow my Facebook page have seen that I wasn't conducting business hours last week. I had a trip planned with the amazing Sarah Haimes of Shuttergram Portraits. (Totally check out her work, its AH-MAZING!)

We explored much of the Pacific North West (PNW for the rest of this blog because I like to shorten things as much as I can), and even though we had some set backs due to the recent fires in the area, it was such an amazing time.

I am so bad at describing things (clearly, I was not blessed with the amazing writer gene), so I will summarize the days of our trip. =)

Wednesday | October 11, 2017

I arrived after having the weirdest flight schedule, I finally met Sarah for the first time. I mean who travels all the way from Detroit, MI to Dallas, TX then to Portland, OR ? I guess, I do. Since we had later flights we didn't do any exploring today as we waited for Kena Iverson of Kena Iverson Photography to arrive. We instantly hit it off and all knew we were going to have an amazing time together.

Thursday | October 12, 2017

Since there were recent fires, (thank you teenagers with firecrackers/fireworks) we had to find a replacement waterfall for the next days session. We decided to check out the bottom of Panther Creek Falls. We knew there was a rope we had to use to climb down, but were completely not prepared for the steepness of the trail that took us down the cliffs to the bottom. It was quite a work out! But soo worth it!

After scaling a mountain, we drove back to the Air BNB that we were staying in for a boudoir session that Sarah had planned with the beautiful Kiele (Instagram: @strawberrykiele). We, of course, had to make a few stops on the way back, because you know, Photographer Issues.

Oh did I mention it rained most of the day?

The rain did not stop us from creating beautiful images! If anything, it actually aided in the perfect look we were going for. And the clouds left us with the perfect amount of light for indoor and outdoor boudoir.

Friday | October 13, 2017

We had three sessions planned today at some beautiful locations... But first, to start the day off right, COFFEE! We always need coffee, or at least I do. The time change was killing me at this point, as surprising as it was since it was only 3 hours.

Our first session was with the beautiful Meranda, (Instagram: @missmerandalynn) a tattooed goddess if I don't say so myself. Unfortunately, I can't get the Live video we took at the shoot to convert, so I have nothing to show from behind the scenes. Just look for her blog post!!

We then ventured around with the lovely Katie (Instagram: @queeenkatie) and Kiele and her boyfriend Levi up a mountain side. It was a 2.5 round trip hike up the side of a mountain to a waterfall the owner of the Air BNB we were staying at told us about. Though it was a long trip, it was completely worth it!

The waterfall at Rodney Falls was AMAZING! And we didn't even mind the long hike back down because let me tell you, the excitement from the images we took was real. I think we made it down in under 30 minutes, compared to the hour it took to get there.

Oh, and yes, we stood at the edge of the waterfall for the shot.

Saturday | October 14, 2017

For our last day in the PNW, we had to make it big. Which included visiting Halloweentown and a few spots where Twilight was filmed! Kena fan girled so much I will add!

Spots we visited:

Halloweentown City Center

Jilly's (The shop they tried on dresses in Twilight for prom)

Aggie Cromwell's House

The bookstore that Bella walked out of before being attacked

The spot where Edward saved Bella

Bella's house

Aggie Cromwell's house

Bella's House

Halloweentown City Center

Bookstore Bella walk out of

Spot where Edward saves Bella

Although we had tickets to meet Marnie from Halloweentown that evening, we were so excited to see all the different locations from filming during the day. Nothing could top the day..

Well, besides the most epic couples session ever!

Enter Melissa and Matias (Instagrams: @melissakate.pnw and @thematiasgonzalas)

These two had so much spark and chemistry, it just oozed out of them. They were beyond amazing and the location was on point that Sarah picked out for them. (Haystack Rock in Canon Beach) For those that don't know it was where one scene of The Goonies was filmed.

After that gorgeous session, we went back to Halloweentown to meet MARNIE! I put my pin on the location map, adn was the first person from Michigan to be there this year. It was the perfect end to a great trip!

Come one, has she even aged at all? Just proves that Halloweentown and witches are real ;)

Sunday | October 15, 2017

As much as I loved the PNW and spending time with some amazing people. I was happy to come home to my son. This was the first time I have ever been away from him for longer than a day, I am so happy that he handled it well and that I did as well.

I can't wait for the next trip!

Personal WorkAlex SaylesOctober 18, 2017Destination, wanderlust, destination photographer1 Comment