bryce canyon national park

Last year marked the 100 year anniversary of the national parks service. I have always enjoyed visiting the many nearby national parks in Utah with my family growing up, and Travis and I would like to continue visiting all that we can. We were able to go to Yellowstone together and more recently, to Bryce Canyon (T's first time). I had a family photo shoot in the area over the summer so we decided to make a trip out of it! We are so lucky to live in a state with so many national park treasures to visit.

I graduated from Utah Valley University last year, and as my last 'hurrah' I submitted some photographs from Bryce to a collaborative art book the Art & Design department put together at the end of the year. It is entitled Uncommon Ground - The National Park Service - 100 Years in Utah, and it contains a multitude of photographs, drawings, paintings, writings, etc. inspired by Utah's 13 national parks and monuments. Since some of my images made it into the book, I was able to receive a copy and share it with my family. It's beautiful! For anyone interested in viewing a few pages from the book or purchasing one (each purchase goes towards funding more annual projects for the Art & Design department), the link is here: http://www.uvu.edu/arts/books/

Although only a couple of my images made it into the book, I (obviously) took like a thousand (what did you expect) and so I'm sharing a sampling of my favorites here. :)

hansen family photos

 Travis and I recently took a trip down to Bryce Canyon National Park as a little couples getaway before his school started (Medical School. Why you gotta start in JUNE?!?!) As luck would have it, our old neighbors were also having a family reunion in the area and invited me to come over to the lodge they were staying at to take some family photos. We said YES and boy are we glad we did ( I say we because Travis was there as the kid-distractor). Not only was this family photogenic, but the Cottonwood Meadows Lodge, people. That place is stunning! It's surrounded by green pastures where horses roam and its got an awesome view of the red rocks of Bryce in the distance. Needless to say, I enjoyed capturing some family moments for this group, and with over a dozen kids under the age of 12, it was a rewarding challenge. :) Thanks Hansen Family!