Roll for Cuteness | Chantal & Evan's Maternity Session at Oxbow Regional Park, Oregon
Let me tell you about Evan.
Evan is my family. He is also my game master — Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, whatever campaign we're in, he is the one running the world we're all playing inside. He is creative and funny and deeply committed to the bit. Which is why I should not have been even slightly surprised to learn that the gorgeous, billowing shot of Chantal's green dress catching the wind was not, in fact, the wind.
It was Evan. He grabbed the train, flung it into the air, and ran.
Chantal was radiant and game. The forest didn't notice either way. And the photograph is genuinely one of my favorites from the whole session.
We spent the afternoon at Oxbow Regional Park on the Sandy River, one of my absolute favorite places to shoot in the Portland area. A thousand acres of old-growth forest, river gorge, and ancient trees — some of them over 700 years old — just 30 minutes from the city. The light under those trees is something else entirely. Green and filtered and quiet, the kind of light that makes everything feel hushed and timeless.
Chantal moved through it beautifully. Belly full and round, that emerald dress against the dark moss and towering fir bark, wildflowers tucked into her hair like she'd wandered in from a fairy tale. The trees at Oxbow are enormous — cathedral-scale — and standing between them with her flower crown and her hands on her belly, she looked completely at home in the wild. There's a presence about a person in late pregnancy that photographs with a kind of gravity — a weight that isn't heavy, just meaningful. She had that completely.
I've already photographed Evan's sister Rachel's wedding — you can see that here — and Chantal and Evan's wedding post is coming soon too. Watching this family grow, chapter by chapter, is one of the things I love most about this job. Even when chapters involve someone throwing a dress train across a forest and running.
Chantal and Evan — I cannot wait to meet whoever is on the way. The table is going to need a new character sheet.
Oxbow Regional Park is located on the Sandy River near Gresham, Oregon — 1,000 acres of old-growth forest, river gorge, and some of the biggest trees closest to a major city anywhere in the world. One of the most beautiful places in the Portland area, full stop.
Booking maternity sessions in the Portland area now — let's connect.
Oxbow Regional Park maternity photographer, Sandy River maternity session Oregon, Portland maternity photographer, outdoor maternity photos Oregon, Oxbow Park maternity session, Portland area maternity photographer, old growth forest maternity photos Oregon, Gresham Oregon maternity photographer, Rare Day Photo maternity session, Oregon maternity photographer nature
