Rikki Rivera | Photographer » Wedding & Portrait Photography

Aaah, you guys! This session was really just the best (aren’t they all :))! My husband and I woke at 5 am and hit the road for Leavenworth to meet with Heather and Joe, who were celebrating their one year wedding anniversary. It was such an exciting time for all of us, and there may have been a little added fun with Oktoberfest going on.

We tucked into a little riverside park just behind the main streets in town. From the salmon moving up river to the still waters and fall colors, we embraced one side of the park to the next and shot in every little spot we could. It was all so beautiful! Never having professional photos taken before, we laughed and walked and (thankfully I didn’t trip over anything this time!) worked our way out of town as they warmed up in front of my camera. Next stop was along Icicle River, which is an incredible Class 5 river with some sweet hiking trails alongside it. I typically visit Leavenworth a few times a year just because I love it all so much!

Our last stop was at one of my favorite lakes as the sun was setting. Heather brought a fantastic styled picnic set up that I think their puppy, Henry, enjoyed the most! It has been really hard to sort through these photos, because I really love them all! So in my element with these! Heather and Joe are just so sweet, you can’t help but love them. By the time we were finishing our shoot, we hugged, and left feeling like good friends rather than having just met that day. I’m most thankful for people like that in my life and work.

Thanks Heather, Joe, and Henry, it was a blast spending the day with you!!

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Celebrating our one year wedding anniversary was completely surreal. Has it really been a year?! Hahaa, no way! But really, yes, yes it has. What a year it’s been!

My sweet husband planned a trip to the Oregon coast, an area we both love deeply. It’s a bit of a change from our usual Pacific Northwest scenery, but is still familiar. We packed our pups, our Toyota Dolphin, and just the two of us headed south. It was so different being without our kids, but sometimes we need that time. Our first stop was in Astoria, where we explored downtown and enjoyed the sea breeze and history that is so prominent in that little town. Along the way we stopped at other small coastal towns, walked the beach, and picked up supplies for dinner. By sunset we were in Cannon Beach.

We walked to Haystack Rock and across town as the sun went down. It was foggy, and the sunset left a blue gray hue on the beach, leaving the perfectly eery moody feel you often get out here. Our first night we cooked up chili and cornbread and enjoyed our first night together. We talked about goals we wanted for the coming year, and enjoyed our quiet little camp spot.

There wasn’t much of a sunrise the next morning, but we came across cute beach houses, lush greenery, and the sweetest honor system stand of flowers and firewood. The quiet, still morning rejuvenated our minds and left us excited for our next stop! Taking our time to enjoy the view of the horses, hot coffee, and a fresh breakfast, we slowly packed up and headed down the road.

It took the rest of the day leaving the coast, finding our way through Portland, and soon, Terrebonne where we would reach Smith Rock State Park. Disappointed there wasn’t any RV camping allowed, we stayed for sunset and explored all we could on foot before dark. We did find a sweet spot near a gorge that gave us an incredible view of the starry night sky.

Cheers to another year!

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How incredible this is, being my third time capturing this beautiful family. You can visit their first + second sessions. Three boys sure is a lot of fun, but also a sweet little challenge. I quickly realized that our main effort was to have fun with this shoot if we were all to come out alive. That’s more than fine with me! I had a blast watching them play and just be boys, maybe a little bit of chasing was involved, but no one was harmed in the making of these photos :).

There is a lot of unique personality emitting from each of the boys. Patrick, he’s a little more serious and sure of things. Johnathan is at the ready to be Patrick’s sidekick. And Nathaniel is a sweet little baby with a seemingly mild temperament, I loved watching him snuggle in close to mama. I am ever curious to see these three personalities develop. Their parents, Anna and Rob, are fantastic parents. I really love watching them in action, they stop at nothing to make my job a little easier with their three, we all share a few good laughs!

Hoping for one good posed family portrait, I’d say we did pretty darn good. Even better though, is all the big smiles, jumping, and dirt. I hope those candids bring back sweet memories of these incredible boys… And can I just mention how impeccably coordinated their outfits are?! Just love it!

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