Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes Session with Brett+Emily

 

Back in June we were in Northern Michigan for two weeks, living in our camper in the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore and we wanted to shoot on the dunes really bad. We've been so lucky over the years to meet SO so many people. Often people in love, celebrating exciting milestones and excitedly partaking in life's adventures! That's the best part of this gig. Brett and Emily drove 3 hours so that we could adventure in the sand together! What transpired was pure human connection. Brett surprised Emily by being completely hilarious and romantic in front of the camera. We laughed and talked about all the things...hiking, road tripping, long stints living in vehicles, we had so much in common and made a real life friendship out of an Instagram message!
 
It was an honor to document this basically random season for these two in their relationship and in life...they're both on separate paths, yet finding their way together. We were so glad we could all convene here for this short time to make something beautiful and real together. 

Check out Emily on Instagram, she's an adventurist like myself @hikingwithheels

 

Rachel + Brian | Date Night Couple Session

We decided to call this a 'Date Night Couple Session' because Rachel & Brian drove all the way from Charlotte, NC to New Castle, PA and then onto Cleveland, OH to meet us for drinks at Plum in Ohio City. After some delicious whiskey beverages and taste-y sharables we headed out to make some portraits without a destination or goal in mind. 
As you'll see these two turned a half hour of wandering around the alleys of Ohio City into the most playful, romantic date night ever! We had nothing to do with all those smiles and laughs...these two didn't need any input from us to be this awesome together! After Ohio City we headed towards the lakeshore and ended the evening the same way they spent their first date, sitting lakeside as the sun fell behind the horizon. We cannot wait for their backyard wedding next month!
 

Ashley + Zach | Northern Michigan Wedding

You may recognize these two from the recent adventure we had with them in Colorado a week before their wedding! We shared a sunset hike in the Rockies and a week later we shared a Sand Dune hike in Upper Michigan. What is this life?

Well, I had the hardest time not selecting a thousand beautiful moments to share from Ashley + Zach's Northern Michigan wedding. Not only was the destination and the wedding absolutely stunning but these two are genuinely the sweetest and happiest people I think I've ever met. Zach's love for Ashley was SO apparent in his mood that day. Between their shared glances and constant smiles, everyone who witnessed these two that day was sincerely intoxicated by the joy they share in their adoration for each other. This is one we'll remember for a long time. 

Location: Traverse City, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Maple City, Michigan
Venue: Snow Moon Ranch | Planning: Sincerely, Ginger | Florals: Stem & Sprigs | Cake: Sweet Tartlette | Beauty: Knoelle Artistry | Band: Other Brother Entertainment, Charleston, SC. | 

Ashley + Colton | Sand Dunes Adventure Session

Ashley + Colton made the drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico to meet us at Great Sand Dunes National Park. We arrived the day before and slept in the van (secretly) in the backcountry parking lot overlooking the dunes. We fell asleep to the quietest, pitch black night and woke to the white, hot sun trying to melt the sand and the van.

This place is incredible, vast and other-worldly. The wind sweeps sand in every direction until it's swirled into massive mounds that harmoniously blend into the pale blue sky at every vantage point. We sat back and watched as Colton and Ashley danced in awe; The most beautiful story, their love for each other, for adventure and for the moment. In the heat of the setting sun, at 10,000 feet elevation, they let the grains of sand sting by the millions against their skin and curled into each other for shelter; a sentiment worth documenting in any place but especially a place as beautiful at this.

Dress from KII Boutique, Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Vintage Camper Couple | Rocky Mountain Sunset Adventure Session

We've been so lucky to meet so many great creatives through Instagram in the last few years. It's such a powerful resource for connecting us with the people who see the world the way we do! 
That's how we met Chelsea + Lyn, these camper-dwellers from southern Ohio who are living the rocky mountain life in a beautiful campground in Colorado right now. We obviously bonded over our love of alternative living, travel, adventure and mountains!

We were on our campervan tour, heading through Buena Vista and these two just happened to be on our route! They saved us a campsite and we met at their camper-home just before sunset. 
Lyndon + Chelsea live a beautifully tiny, big life on the road. They invited us in, made us pancakes, offered us beer and then took us for a true mountain drive in their Land Rover. We headed up a private road as far as the Rover would go and hopped out to get to the top of the ridge where we could see all the peaks surrounding the valley and their little camper below us! Lyn kept saying he didn't know where the best light would be for photos but he knew this view couldn't be beat. We laughed and wandered until the last bit of amber light fell behind the peaks and then we finished the evening with dinner cooked over the campfire. We've never had a more authentic experience getting to know strangers than with these two! And what a beautiful home they have!

Follow their adventures on their Insta @mobile_millers

Gail + Toby | Honey Run Falls Session

We met Gail and Tobias at the trail head, just a few feet from a little stream and a 25 foot waterfall. A place none of us had ever been. We got to know each other briefly as we sat on top of a big boulder. They sank in to the cool breeze, only noticing each other, quietly and affectionately while we watched the light drape itself, like ribbons of white chocolate, over everything. Gail + Toby have this slow and quiet way about their love. They were a joy to explore with, to have conversation with and a dream to photograph. Check out the video of this session here.

Source: https://vimeo.com/192079274

Autumn in Ohio - Adventure

Taylor and Tony met us on a perfect golden evening out at one of their and our favorite open spaces in the area! What happened next was just awesome. We joked and teased each other like old friends and these two rocked it for the lens! 
Meet Taylor & Tony, they're getting married next year!
 

Of all the places that I've been...

I'm no place with out you....
That's the song lyric. That's the thought I've been finding myself thinking as each day and each adventure comes to it's end. Today, I'm 30. This summer marks our 10th anniversary together. We're feeling a bit excited about this new chapter. Getting older is never easy because it's just one less day...one less year that we get to spend doing life this way... but I'm so thankful for my 30 years and especially that the last 10 of them have been spent with Justin at my side every. single. step of the way. This next chapter is going to be quite a story. It took us 10 years to figure things out but this chapter is going to be the best one yet. This chapter looks a lot like this: Us, together, loving life, living with intention, traveling when and where we want, staying an extra night just because, drinking bloody mary's at every opportunity and cuddling, always cuddling. My birthday advice today is to find your people and love them hard, do what you want and find what makes you crazy passionate, forget the norm, the standard, the socially acceptable...do you and do it with someone who loves you and makes you feel like the best human you can be! 
This chapter looks like a lot like this....

(HUGE hugs and thank you's to our new friends Nate & Amanda Howard for capturing this adventure for us in Malibu last month, we had the raddest time, learned so much, saw the dopest sunset over the coast and made new adventure friends...thanks guys!) 

Kaitlin + John | Brookside Farms, Ohio

I knew when we met Kaitlin & John that their wedding would be one that fits right in with our vibe of living and documenting the most authentic stories. They're a laid back, loving couple that planned a day as equally laid back and loving. The timeline was slow and casual and left time for them to spend the day with all their favorite people. Their joy shines in every single photograph and it was real. They made memories and we were honored to be the ones to witness and savor it for them!

Coast to Coast!

"Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline,
no matter how many times it's sent away"
- Sarah Kay

The winter season is way way over. We woke up this week and it's summer and we're wasting no time getting around to adventures of all kinds. We're road tripping east with our friends for their wedding on Hilton Head Island next week, then a quick stop in Savannah and Charleston before we set off the California coast for a wedding and a week's worth of exploring and shooting.  
The mountains AND the ocean are calling and we must go! 

The spring unfolds

We waited for weeks for the cold to end, for the rain to stop, for the sun to shine. Then we waited for the trees to turn green and the flowers to bloom. Mara + Brad waited patiently to have this adventure with us on the most beautiful spring evening at Hinckley Reservation, a place they picked as a location for their future married adventures together!  
We can't wait to spend their wedding day documenting this love story!