Baylee and Tyler

 I met Baylee in 2009 when our moms set us up for a senior session, me being a new photographer and Baylee being a senior in high school. Our moms both worked together at the time... so, thanks moms! Fast forward a couple years later and Baylee is starting a photography business of her own and we get to collaborate on a few things and learn from each other, which it's always good to have friends in the industry. Collaboration, not competition! Fast forward another couple years later, and I am transitioning into wedding videography as Baylee is really starting to kill the wedding photography game. We've gotten to capture a few weddings together now, and it is so fun! Her as the photographer, me as the videographer. Brides.... we work really well together, FYI ;)

When she first told me that she met this Canadian guy on Tinder, he came down to meet her, and they really hit it off, I thought "that's sweet, but it'll never work." Living in two different countries right off the bat and trying to start a long distance relationship? No way. When they got engaged, I was happy for them, but still hesitant. It's not until I finally got to meet Tyler that it all finally made sense. They are truly the perfect combination of similarities and contrasts. They are so alike in that they are genuine, driven, intentional, energetic, hard working, and love to be around their friends. Yet, they are different in smaller ways that balance each other out perfectly. Baylee is whimsical minded while Tyler is a little more logical, haha. I actually love this about them! I feel like Tyler brings Baylee back to Earth sometimes but Baylee gets Tyler thinking more spontaneously. Besides all of this, how hot of a couple are they?! I mean, come on. They make THEE most beautiful couple.

Their wedding day was absolutely perfect. Baylee got ready at her mom's house with some of her closest friends, and then we drove out to the gorge where her and Tyler shared their first look. They wanted their wedding day to be intimate and magical. Well, they certainly got that. On a March afternoon in Oregon, they were absolutely blessed with a beautiful, sunny day. That, in itself, is magic. The said their vows on the most stunning cliffside with their immediate family and closest friends. It was very intimate.
Baylee and Tyler, your wedding day was perfect. Laid back, intimate, fun, romantic, spontaneous, filled with so much laughter and love... I already know your wedding day is just a hint of what the rest of your guys' lives together will be like. I'm excited to see what the future holds for you two.

Thank you for having me capture your day, it was truly an honor. I love you guys!

Also, it's always a treat to get to work with the fabulous Jessica Heron, who photographed the day. Check out her photos from their wedding day, below:

Styled Elopement in the Gorge

If I'm being honest, traveling is my absolute favorite past time in my "off-season" of November-May. However, every once in awhile, us PNW creatives have to get our "wedding fix" in come mid-off-season time ;) Baylee, Jessica, and I had been discussing the idea of a styled shoot for awhile... This has definitely been in the works, folks! Huge props to Baylee for honing in on all of her connections and really coordinating the whole thing in order to make this dream a reality!

In truth, we had tossed so many ideas around over the course of about 6 months, and everything came together beautifully as if it was meant to be, just in the last week or two of the shoot. Our models - STUNNING, and so much fun to work with! They were a perfect fit, a real life couple, sweet and funny, and so passionate about it each other, that it made for a very romantic outcome in the imagery. Baylee and Jess photographed the entire day, whom made for a killer photographer duo. I filmed obviously, and was so stoked to put together this film, I hope you liked it! We are so thankful to all of our vendors who participated, please check them out in the links below! And enjoy this combination of imagery from both Baylee and Jess:

Coordination and Photography: Baylee Dennis 
Photography: Jessica Heron Images
Models: Bailey O'bar and Kevin Bacewich
Hair & MUA: Mallory Savery
Wedding Gown: Cocoon Silk in Portland, OR
Florals: Your Flower Friends
Jewelry: Rageda's Jewelers
Venue: The Gorge... No better place than the PNW ;)

Here are just a few "behind-the-scenes" shots that I took while filming:

All in all, it was such a fabulous day! Despite cutting my finger open, getting a flat tire, Bailey rolling her ankle, all of us pushing our car stuck in snow, and painful frozen fingers and toes later... we were completely blessed with beautiful weather and just the right amount of wind, and all of us had so much fun together. It honestly couldn't have been more perfect. Thanks again to all of our talented and amazing vendors!

Yosemite Elopement

No, this couple did not hire me to take their wedding photos and no, I did not know this couple until approximately 5 minutes before they said "I do."

We met by pure serendipity; and for me, it was simply being in the right place at the right time.

I was on a personal 6 day hiking/camping trip in the beautiful Yosemite National Park. I found this spectacular spot at Taft Point (in the Park) to watch the sunset on the first evening that I was there, and had returned to that spot for every sunset there after. On the last night, I was stoked to have the best seat at Taft Point (a random rock), to watch the sun set, only to have this handsome gentleman tap me on the shoulder and politely ask me to move so that he could get married there in a few minutes.

I, of course, moved right away and then looked around to realize that it was him, his bride, and a couple of their buddies (dog included), but no cameras. The setting was one of the most stunning views I've ever seen in my life, and they were about to get married, and not have any of it captured?! I could not believe it. I had my camera with me, naturally, and I thought about offering to take a few pics of their elopement, but ultimately decided that maybe they just wanted a private moment. Thankfully, the friend I was with is super outgoing and has this contagious spontaneity about him, and casually offered up my photography services for me. "Do you guys have a photographer? Well perfect, RACHEL happens to be a wedding photographer and has her camera with her!" Charley's eye's lit up a bit and I could tell he was beyond thrilled with the irony of this moment, he exclaimed over to his bride who was getting her dress on, "BABE, GUESS WHAT?!! We have a wedding photographer!!"

Their good friend officiated, it was short and sweet, and they sealed it with a kiss at sunset. What a way to get married! When I asked them why they chose Taft Point, Charley mentioned that it was just special to them (and I would find out later why). They are definitely a very outgoing, adventuresome couple and even after only knowing them for just a few minutes, I found their elopement to be very fitting for them.

A few days ago when I shared the images with Charley and Elle, I received not only the gift of their gratitude and kind words, but Charley shared with me the back-story as to why they got married at Taft, and why exactly it is so special to him. 

"I've been a base jumper/wingsuit flier for quite awhile. Two of my best friends, who unfortunately died last year jumping (they were very famous climbers you may have heard about), opened the jump at Taft Point together. It's always been one of my very favorite places in the world. I quit jumping after they passed away, and I wanted to make Taft a special, positive memory again, and you helped do that. Thank you so much for more than just wedding photos."     -Charley

I had heard about the fatal accident last year , but while photographing Charley and Elle's elopement September 8th this year, had no idea of the relation or even of the exact location (of which I was standing). After finding this out, I realized how much of a "God moment" this truly was. That out of all of the days in the year, I happened to be in Yosemite Park, specifically at Taft Point, the same day, in the same 20 minutes, that Charley and Elle eloped. I feel incredibly humbled, grateful, lucky, blessed, etc. that God put me at Taft in that moment to not only capture their magical "i do's" but to just meet them in general! Besides, how gorgeous are they?!

Rad couple, epic setting, captivating sunset, and perfect elopement!

Well done Charley and Elle, well done. I wish you guys many beautiful sunsets, many epic life adventures, and all kinds of continued serendipity in your future as husband and wife.

Disclaimer:
This was a spur of the moment video clip that I decided to randomly take while I was *spur-of-the-moment* photographing their elopement. No stabilization or audio equipment was used and I also had several bees swarming my head while I was trying to film, haha! This film is not meant to be a reflection of my wedding videography, but something I just did on my personal time. It was originally meant for just the couple - but I actually thought it was too cute not to share :)

On my very last evening of our 6 day camping/hiking trip in Yosemite National Park, I was excited to snag the best spot at Taft Point to watch the sun set. As the sun was a few minutes away from going down, this fine gentleman tapped us on the shoulder and politely asked us if we could possibly move since he wanted to get married there in about 10 minutes. Of course we moved! But then realizing they did not have anybody to capture this epic elopement that was about to happen in the most captivating setting, I offered to snap a few photos for them; since I, of course, had my camera. About half way through the "ceremony," that their good friend was officiating, I figured I might as well take a short little video for them as well, just something fun to have to remember this by. It was awesome getting to briefly meet Charley and Elle, and even more awesome to get to witness/capture their elopement. They are a pretty rad couple and I wish them the most happiness! Disclaimer: This was a spur of the moment video clip I decided to take while I was *spur-of-the-moment* also photographing their elopement. No stabilization or audio equipment was used and I also had several bees swarming around my head while I was trying to film! This film is not meant to be a reflection of my wedding videography, but something I just did on my personal time (as I was in the right place at the right time) and it is originally meant for just the couple - but I actually thought it was too cute to not share :)

I was blown away that Charley was a wingsuit flier, then to hear about the story of his dear friends, Dean Potter and Graham Hunt, opening up the Taft jump together. I didn't even know base-jumping/wingsuit flying was a thing, so I casually did my research and have been thoroughly intrigued with learning about this hobby more and more ever since (don't worry Mom, I'm not going to try it). Charley was too humble of a guy to tell me, but I googled him a bit (Sorry Charley!), and found out that he is 1 of 10 people worldwide who has over 2,000 jumps under his harness, from all over the world. How incredible is that?! Anyways, I thought I'd share some more insight for those of you who also know nothing about this insanely awesome hobby and/or are as intrigued and inspired as I am (click on links to open up videos/articles):

Base-Jumping

Charley-And-Friends-Flying

BASE-World-Tour-With-Charley

About-Charley-Kurlinkus

About-Dean-Potter

About-Graham-Hunt