Ingrid and Scott are getting married in the beautiful Flagstaff this year.  So, they wanted a different feel for their engagement session.  Enter: Sedona.  I told them about two locations in Sedona (Oak Creek and Bell Rock).  They decided to go with the more desert and beautiful red rock backdrop of Bell Rock.  And I could not be more excited, because it was on my bucket list for engagement sessions!

We made our plans to meet at the trail head for a weekend in January.  That weekend just so happened to be the same weekend as the government shut down.  I didn’t realize that Bell Rock was part of a National Forest until I attempted to buy our parking passes.  The kiosk said, “Site closed due to: “.  And that was it.  Nothing else!  I googled and confirmed that this trail head was part of the government shut down.  But that was not stopping anybody in the full parking lot from enjoying the trail.  And it wasn’t going to stop us either!

After scouting the areas surrounding the trails for a few minutes, Ingrid and Scott arrived.  We walked down the trail until the area opened up (a large section was closed for healing) and then started their session.  We were on a pretty popular section of the trail to start, so we had to wait for the random hiker wearing a neon green shirt to pass in between photos, but these two didn’t mind.  They were too busy making each other laugh and enjoying the views.

After we got the amazing scenic photographs of them with Bell Rock, we started exploring.  We went down different trails, into washes, and in tall grass areas.  These two were troopers.  As the sun started setting behind the mountains, it started to get colder and colder.  We really started to feel the fact that it snowed a few days ago.  I mean, there was still snow patches on the ground!  So we kept exploring, but started heading back to the parking lot.

The sun had set just enough for us to get some amazing photos in front of the red rock cliffs.  We found a flat wash with great views of the bluffs and took our last few photos of the evening.  Then it was time to head back to the heaters of our cars and head home for some hot dinner!

It was such a joy working with Ingrid and Scott.  They can make each other laugh at the drop of a hat.  And the next moment they are snuggled up together.  I cannot wait to spend more time with them on their wedding day!

Check out more amazing engagement sessions here: Engagement Sessions