Bloomington Lake Idaho Adventure Engagement Couples Photoshoot

Bloomington Lake in Idaho is now one of my favorite locations ever because of my experience with Lauren and Camden. Sooooo many incredible memories were made there! Not to mention, it is a great place to do a little hiking and paddle-board during the warmer months in the summer. I was fortunate enough to have an adventure engagement session booked with Lauren and Camden there. Lauren and Camden are the actual coolest people ever and I feel so privileged that I got to do an adventure couples session with them for their engagement pictures!

Lauren and Camden had been dating for a few years previously to getting engaged! When Lauren first contacted me, she actually wasn’t engaged yet! But she knew it was going to happen soon and wanted to book me for an adventure engagement couples session. I was absolutely so stoked not only for their future upcoming engagement, but to work with such an amazing couple! 

When Lauren first contacted me, she also told me that she and Camden wanted their engagement session to be “super fun and easy going so we can get real in the moment pictures”. In her exact words. Which I immediately was stoked about because that screams and aligns with my brand and what I offer to my couples: a photoshoot that focuses on adventure, landscape, being easy going and fun while also telling your story beautifully. 

The communication process at first was a little tricky because my husband and I were about to leave for our vacation in Hawaii and our schedules were a little tricky to align with me being out of office. It also didn’t help that I lost my phone while in Hawaii, so when we did get back from Hawaii I was able to talk to Lauren on my husbands phone during a phone call and discuss details of their adventure engagement session. 

Lauren had mentioned that she noticed on my website that I include two locations for a couple of sessions and up to three outfits! She really wanted to go to either Tony’s Grove (which you can find more pictures of here from an amazing Senior session!) or Bloomington Lake which was about two hours north of where we were located. After discussing details, we figured the best thing that we could do was stop along the way to Bloomington lake and hit the first location! 

Lauren in Camden her also specified that they wanted a location that had pretty fall trees! And that is where our first location came through! I had chosen a location along the way to Bloomington lake passing by Bear Lake. Lucky for us, we were just in time to catch aspen trees with yellow and orange leaves! It was such a gorgeous area even though we only had a half an hour or so to do the photos before we needed to get to Bloomington lake. Here are some of the photos from that session!

After our first stop, I gave them some other favorite treats that they had mentioned in the questionnaire I had sent to them since we had a little bit left of our drive until Bloomington Lake! Before we got to Bloomington Lake I hopped into their car with them for the last 35 or so minutes because I knew that my car wouldn’t make it up the rocky and bumpy road to the trail head. If you do plan on going to Bloomington Lake, do be prepared for a bit of rocky road! The first little bit isn’t too bad but then it gets rough with some big potholes and larger rocks! Luckily Camden was a really great driver during these parts of the road, and it gave me a great opportunity to get to the Lauren in Camden a lot better as we talked in the car! 

We finally got to Bloomington Lake parking lot and walked the 1.6 mile hike into Bloomington Lake. If you do decide to have your pictures done at Bloomington lake, just be aware that there is a short trail there and back! The trail isn’t too bad at all–there’s only a few parts that are a little bit more hilly and spots where you have to climb around rocks but Lauren had about an inch and a half of heels on and did great. Other than that, it is a pretty easy trail! We even carried in a few bags of clothes and other props for our photo shoot during the hike and it wasn’t bad at all! Super easy. 

When we finally got to Bloomington Lake, we were absolutely in awe over the beauty of the depth of mountain ranges and the beautiful clear lake! Bloomington Lake is so raw in natural color and plant life that it almost feels surreal being there! We started off pretty far away taking some really wide shots. I’ve always really loved the “big world small people” shots because it really can encompass what the environment feels like in real life. Afterwards we went to another location and explored together just climbing rocks, pausing for a few pictures, dancing and jumping around some open Meadows and climbing and sitting on more rocks! 

I then had them change their second outfits before it got too dark. During this time, I had borrowed Lauren‘s ring for a few ring shots while they were getting changed. They had a formal outfit for their second outfit. A really fun element to their engagement session is that Lauren and Camden wanted to go into the water at the end of the session! I was really excited about this because I knew for their adventure engagement session that the pictures would turn out amazing! Bloomington Lake also has a rope swing that you can use to jump in to the lake! It is a pretty large rope soon as well and takes you pretty far out until the lake. 

At one point towards before getting in the water they just looked at each other and said, “okay you ready?” And then proceeded to full-on walk into the water hahah I was so confused because I thought they had brought swimming suits or something to change into! So when all of a sudden they just walked in fully clothed I realize that they were going to jump off the rope swing fully clothed as well! WHICH WAS SO FUN. They were so fun and down to do anything for their adventure engagement session! After a few minutes, they got out of the water, crossed the wooden log to the rope swing area and that’s when I got even more prepared to take the action shots!

Camden then had swung off of the rope swing and done a backflip and when he came out of the water he literally gasped! The water looked really really cold. Lauren was trying to hype her self up to go off of the rope swing as well because she knew how cold it was going to be. I’m so glad I was able to catch her reaction because she was so adorable. Afterwards, they both got in the water just for the last few minutes for some The Notebook worthy shots and any other last remaining shots we were able to get!

Lauren and Camden are adorable and so fun. You can feel their love and friendship through these shots. And I am grateful that they chose me as their photographer to join their Adventure Engagement session at Bloomington Lake!

Some tips on adventuring at Bloomington Lake, Idaho for your photoshoot: 

• Bloomington Lake opens July 1st every year and is a bit more popular during the summer months where people will be paddle-boarding and hiking.
• From Paris to the hiking trail, there is a 35-40 minute bumpy (but worth it) drive up to the trailhead so plan ahead!
• There is a short 1.6 mile hike out-and-back trail. Typically an easy route, it takes an average of 40 min to complete if you’re taking a slower stroll. 
• There is a smaller lake before you get to actual Bloomington Lake so make sure you don’t assume that is Bloomington Lake!
• There are 2 restrooms to use at the trailhead 
• Plan on at least being there an hour and a half earlier than you would for a regular sunset/evening session! It gets darker way faster in the evening at Bloomington Lake since you are in such high mountains and the mountains are also so tall!
• For more information on Bloomington Lake, check out the this website of Bloomington Lake by the USDA Forest Service

Considering booking an adventure couples session? You can check out my adventure couples page on my website for more information on what options it includes and how we can make this possible! 

Getting hitched? Check out my work and holler at me.

Engagement ring: Farr’s Jewlery