Swept Away in Time — Tatum + Marcus’s Editorial Engagement Session at the Utah State Capitol

Salt Lake City editorial wedding & engagement photographer | Utah State Capitol engagement session

Some couples ask for “natural and candid.” Tatum and Marcus asked for magazine. Timeless, crisp, romantic, the kind of imagery that looks like it was pulled from a film still rather than a phone calendar — and from the very first conversation, I knew exactly where we needed to be standing to make that happen.

Tatum and Marcus recently made the move from the Reno/Tahoe area to Salt Lake City, and if you’ve spent any time with them, the move makes total sense. They carry themselves with this quiet, old-world elegance — the kind of couple who’d look at home in a black-and-white photograph from any decade you handed them. So when it came time to plan their engagement session, we didn’t reach for a trendy backdrop. We went straight for marble columns, soaring archways, and light that pours in like it’s being filtered through a hundred years of history: the Utah State Capitol.

Why the Capitol Works for Editorial, Romantic Imagery

The Capitol building has earned its reputation as a favorite among photographers of every kind, and it earns it honestly. Every hallway turns into a different set. Arched doorways frame a couple like a painting. Marble staircases create depth and drama with almost no effort. And the light — golden, soft and occasionally dramatic — moves through the building in a way that consistently surprises me, even after shooting there before. It’s the kind of location with genuinely hundreds of corners worth exploring, each one offering something a little different: grand and architectural in one hallway, intimate and quiet the next.

For Tatum and Marcus specifically, it gave us exactly the “swept away in time” feeling they were after. Tatum’s satin slip dress moved beautifully against the stone — soft fabric, hard architecture, a contrast that does a lot of the romantic, editorial heavy lifting on its own. Marcus’s tailored black suit grounded every frame. Together, leaning into archways, wrapped up on a staircase, caught mid-laugh under that soaring rotunda ceiling — it felt less like a typical engagement shoot and more like watching two people who already move in sync with each other.

Getting to Know Each Other Before the Big Day

This session means even more to me because it’s not where Tatum and Marcus’s story with me ends — it’s where it begins. I’ll have the joy of photographing their wedding day at Snowpine Lodge this summer, and sessions like this one are exactly why I love building in an engagement shoot ahead of the wedding. It’s not just about getting comfortable in front of a camera (though that part matters too). It’s about the two of us — well, the three of us — getting on the same page: understanding their vision, finding our rhythm together, figuring out how we work as a team before the most important day of their lives is riding on it.

By the time Tatum and Marcus say their vows at Snowpine this summer, we won’t be meeting for the first time in front of a lens. We’ll already know how to move together. That’s the real gift of an engagement session, and it’s one I’d encourage every couple to take seriously, no matter what your style ends up being.

Timeless, Crisp, Romantic — Their Whole Vision in One Session

What made this session work as well as it did wasn’t just the venue, it was the clarity of Tatum and Marcus’s vision going in. They wanted timeless. They wanted crisp. They wanted romantic in a way that felt cinematic rather than saccharine — swept away, not staged. The Capitol gave us a setting capable of holding all three at once, and Tatum and Marcus brought the rest: the ease with each other, the genuine warmth under all that polish, the sense that this is a couple who already knows exactly who they are together.

If you’re picturing a similarly romantic, editorial-feeling session of your own — at the Capitol or anywhere else in Salt Lake —

 I’d love to talk through your vision and how we’ll bring it to life.