Gary + Angela // Joshua Tree, California

Angela and I met through Instagram. We followed each other for months, complimenting each other's photos (she's a photographer, too!), never thinking we would meet in real life. I was running a special on couples sessions and she commented on the ad saying "Ahh, I wish you were in California!!". Coincidentally, I was in the middle of planning a road trip to California and back. So in the middle of our road trip, we met Angela and her boyfriend, Gary, in southern California and had a big sleepover in this amazing tile house that the owner built himself. We started their session off in the house - a) because it's AWESOME and b) because I want to start giving my clients the option to start their engagement sessions off in their homes. The photos don't have to be sexy, like some of the ones below. You don't even have to show the photos to your friends and family. I just think it is a great way to comfortably ease into a session and easily capture the essence of you as a couple. Less posing, more feeling. For me, my favorite place to be is cuddling on the couch with Alec and my pup, Nola. So naturally, I would love to have a photograph of this. We continued their session down the road at Joshua Tree State Park. I was so overwhelmed with how big and beautiful the place was. I had no idea where to start. We ended up just cruising around, pulling over at random spots until the sun went down. Even then, we stayed in the park playing around with night photography. So happy to have finally met this couple and made new photo friends. Happy five year anniversary, Gary + Angela!