top of page

My Favorite Shoot Location in Southern Oregon

Writer's picture: Emily GrosecloseEmily Groseclose

The best photoshoot locations are the most versatile ones. Grassy fields, riverside meadows, and mossy forests are just a few of the ecosystems that you can find at the Ken Denman Wildlife Area just outside of Medford, Oregon.


A pregnant woman and a man stand in a field with their foreheads touching. The woman is wearing a grey floral maternity gown with her belly showing and the man is wearing a white button-up shirt.

Denman is first and foremost a wildlife preserve, providing water developments and habitats for migrating waterfowl and upland birds. There's an interpretive trail that you can hike that comes with a pamphlet detailing exactly what the area provides for its wildlife. There are ponds, dense forest, fields of native plants, biking/horse trails, and, most interestingly, old ammunition bunkers from World War II. My boyfriend and I have spent plenty of time wandering around the area, scouting for prime photoshoot locations. There are too many to count.


A pregnant woman and a man stand in a field at sunset. The woman is wearing a grey floral maternity gown with her belly showing and the man is wearing a white button-up shirt. The man's hand is on the woman's belly and the woman is holding out her gown's skirt.

The photo above was taken right at the entrance to the wildlife area in September. This field stretches out to provide a perfect backdrop, right up to Tablerock. Entomologists are frequently seen researching in this field in the spring and summer months. Camreal and Majohn's maternity shoot was perfectly timed with the sunset, and the field made for some majestic photos.


A baby lays in a brown basket surrounded by green grass, clover, and purple flowers. The baby is wearing a white onsie and the basket has a grey pillow in it.

A man and a woman stand with their baby in a meadow with purple flowers. There are trees and a river in the background. The sun is shining through the trees. The woman is blonde with a black dress that has palm fronds on it. The man is in all black.

All the way down the main road through Denman, there's a trail that leads back toward the Rogue River. At the edge of the river is a beautiful grassy area that blooms in the spring and is filled with these amazing purple flowers.


They bloomed just in time for Julian's newborn shoot in June! This made for a dreamy lifestyle-type photoshoot with his family.


Right across the trail, just a few steps away, is another grassy area that looks a little different during the spring months.



Katrina contacted me about doing a birthday photoshoot since she was dreading turning 40. I took her to Denman and we set up this cute little shoot complete with balloons, a cake that Katrina made herself, and sparkling cider. The shoot was so fun and made Katrina's 40th birthday one to look back on fondly.

A woman sits on a picnic blanket in a grassy meadow. She is holding two gold numbered balloons that read "40." There is a milk crate next to her with a vase of white flowers, a pink and white cake on a cake stand, and gold balloons behind the crate. The woman is wearing a black dress with multi-colored, sparkly sleeves. There are trees in the background.

One thing I do NOT recommend when doing a photoshoot in this area is balloons filled with plastic confetti. As soon as those balloons touched the grass, they popped and gold confetti was everywhere. Don't worry - we picked up every single piece of confetti and made sure that the area looked untouched when we were done. The area is a wildlife area, so it needs to stay free of human waste in order for the animals to thrive here. No more balloons for me at Denman! Learned that the hard way.


I still have many other locations on the property that I would love to shoot at. A snowy photoshoot would look so dreamy! Denman is also located right next to TouVelle State Park, which I have yet to explore, but it's next on my list.


If you're looking to visit or do a photoshoot at Denman, make sure to get a parking pass from their website as well as a key to the gate from headquarters a couple blocks down the road. I got the annual parking pass for only $30, which is well worth it considering how often I visit the area. If you do visit, pack it in, pack it out!


The Ken Denman Wildlife Area in Southern Oregon is my favorite shoot location and a beautiful backdrop, and I hope that you can appreciate it as much as I do!

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page