Have you ever been to Tibble Fork in the summer? Words like “crazy… packed… UNBEARABLE…” come to my mind as accurate descriptions of this location. Shooting here in the summer is totally doable, but it requires crafty angles, blurry backgrounds, and fighting other photographers for the best spots (and often a heavy dose of Photoshop on top of all that).
My solution? Shoot here in the early spring or late fall. The water’s too cold for swimmers and paddleboarders… which means you can get sweeping shots of the reservoir with no people in the background!
On this shoot, I worked with an ADORABLE family who recently moved to Utah County from Washington state. They wanted a location with water, greenery, and mountains… of course Tibble Fork was a perfect match!
Okay, now for the downside… this session was COLD. We’ve been having an unseasonably warm spring (literally- all week we enjoyed Summer-In-March-Gorgeous-Weather), but Mother Nature decided to flip on us and it was freezing! Everyone looked great, I’d get a couple of good pictures, then a frigid gust of wind would come along and take everyone’s breath away!
Oh yeah, and did I mention that two of the kids were sick on top of all that? Despite clearly not feeling well, they smiled through it, had the best attitude, and never complained! We made sure to keep this session short and sweet so they could get back to resting… I was SO impressed. (Can they teach my kids a thing or two? 😂)
Alright, time for real talk: despite taking pictures in the ‘off-season’ and battling cold weather, I still had to be crafty with my angles and break out my ol' friend, Photoshop. There were a lot of other groups around!
You’re never going to truly have Tibble Fork to yourself, but so long as you can get shots of the reservoir without a million and a half people in the background, consider it a win! And if you're lucky enough to photograph a family as cute as this one, consider it a double win!! 🥳
