It was summer of 2021 when I had the distinct pleasure of packing up our ever gorgeous studio assistant Lucy and hauling her across the country with me to Utah. We were in town for an editorial shoot but while we were there I made it a point to visit the Salt Flats out in Bonneville to create a truly unforgettable girls day.
Coordinating the Trip
Now, you’ve likely seen some content of Lucy around our site. We’ve photographed her in tons of locations and she is always happy to go along with whatever crazy idea we’ve come up with each week, but these are by far some of my favorite images of her (and myself. I might get wild here in a bit and include some of my own photographs- we will see once I get done writing this haha).
We started out early in the morning and rounded up these gorgeous gowns to wear out into the flats. I went with pink, because of course I did, and Lucy chose a black one to compliment her ever porcelain like features.
We actually swapped dresses mid shoot because, how often do you get to wear a floofy gorgeous gown like this?! And of course, I have to link the dress rental company we used because they were incredible to work with! The owner, Rebecca, was absolutely amazing to us and I would recommend her to anyone!
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
We spent a couple hours leaping around, throwing the fabric, shooting from different angles and just generally laughing at how “influencer in the wild” it probably seemed from the outside- but in the end I definitely think it was all so worth it! Let me know what your favorite shot is!
Now before I go any further, I want to make it a point to tell you that it was COLD that day. I know these pictures don’t show it, because that’s part of my job as a professional, but it was absolutely chilly due to the massive rain storm that we drove into. We drove nearly 2.5 hours from Salt Lake City, and we had to make this shoot happen, rain or shine. We would hop out, do ten pictures, and then hop back into my SUV to dry off for a second. The air there is dry and it moves across the 46 square miles of totally flat land very quickly. Not to mention the fact that white repels sunlight and heat, meaning the lighting for these photos was immaculate from all the reflection, but the heat was no where to be found that day.
7 Tips for Shooting in the Salt Flats
And for those of you who are planning to travel there yourselves, I have a few tips.
- Bring your own snacks and water. This isn’t a tourist destination, it’s a natural formation, and a protected one at that. This means no snacks, no gas station, no grocery store. It’s just you and miles and miles of flat white nothing as far as the eye can see.
- Because of the lack of development in point 1, there are also no restrooms. Plan accordingly.
- Although we didn’t utilize them, there are frequently art installations in the area that people flock to for instaclout. You can use those or avoid them- just follow your own creative vision!
- Leave no trace. This should be pretty obvious but as avid environmental activists at RAA, we encourage you to be mindful of the impact your activities have on the area. No fires are allowed to be started, no trash should be left behind. If we don’t all do our part in caring for these beautiful corners of the Earth there wont be as many beautiful corners left very soon.
- Bring a hair brush, hair tie, and lots of hairspray. It is INCREDIBLY windy.
- Plan for a trip to the Car Wash, because there will be salt, quite literally, everywhere. You can plan to spend a chunk of quarters in the vacuum.
- Have fun driving on the sand, there is no speed limit out there. 😉
Here are the photos we took, and we hope that it inspires you to get out and take photos of your own!
Still trying to decide where to go from here? Check out these blogs to help you learn more about the wonderful world of wedding photography and videography with Rebecca Ann Aesthetic.
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