Red dust coated our feet and the air smelled like pinion and cedar.

The heat of the day faded as the sun slowly dipped behind the tall red rock formations. Meghan took Jake’s hand and led him up a small hill where the sun shone through the trees just right.  Jake smiled and wrapped his arms around Meghan… later he would tell her how beautiful and perfect she was, but Meghan would just smile and shake her head, totally modest. These two are adventurous and funny, but together they have something special. An inseparable team and a magical connection.

I thoroughly I feel like photos should tell the truth.

Sometimes I use photos to only tell part of the story. I’ll wait till the stress of a moment eases and things relax a bit before I press the shutter, or I’ll move aside some clutter to take a supposedly-candid photo with a clean background.  It’s all just part of the job. Not being dishonest in my storytelling, just telling the story I want to tell, in the most beautiful way I can. Letting the focus fall on what’s really important.

The truths I wanted to tell with these photos:
-Meghan Loves Jake
-Jake Loves Meghan
-Meghan is GORGEOUS
-Sedona is Magic
-It’s nights like these, that make me believe in the power of love to change the universe.

The hidden truths behind these photos:
-We had many mishaps getting those flowers and ended up getting all the supplies for them from Trader Joe’s and arranging LATE into the night the evening before!!
-We spent hours in traffic in Sedona before this shoot… weekends and roundabouts do not mix in that place!
-Meghan and Jake are already married but have never had professional portraits taken of them together! How lucky was I that they were willing to make the trip up to Sedona??
-The original plan was to hike up to cathedral rock for sunset…. but when I saw the STEEP trail and felt how freaking hot it was… we nixed that one quickly! I’d say our backup plan turned out better than the original.

Meghan & Jake,

Thank you for the honor of taking your portraits… and for making the trip up to Sedona, AZ to meet me!  I love this spot and you two are the FUNNEST! I hope that our paths cross again soon, but in the meantime, keep laughing and adventuring in the desert together! Your positivity and joy is contagious and the world is a better place for it.

Love & Appreciation, ~M