These two came all the way out from British Columbia, Canada for this epic sand dunes engagement session. They happened to be in the Phoenix area, and we went back and forth on a few possible desert locations for their shoot. After seeing some of my other photo sessions at the dunes, J decided she wanted to go for the full desert vibe. I could not have been happier.

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The dunes take a little bit of extra time to get to from Phoenix, but we figured they had already come all this way, what’s a few more hours in a car? We also hit it a bit late in the season, so there were very few other people around.

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J brought two outfits, but we ended up taking a majority of their photos in her second outfit because I mean, really. She found her dress last minute up in Canada and brought it all the way here. And let me tell you, a high-low dress on a breezy day is pretty much photography dreams.

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I was a little worried that the sand would be hot, since this was late spring, but the weather was actually perfect. No shoes for the win.

These two were up for anything and everything I suggested, including one of my personal favorites – JUST RUUUUUN at him!

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Timing is always key for the best lighting for a shoot, and we timed things just right to get that golden sunset glow.

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Which led, and I’ll be honest here, to my absolute favorite photo from the session and definitely in my top ten of all time:

If you care to geek out over camera settings for a sec – I heard an interesting tip about increasing your f stop to get a more dramatic sun flare. I shot this at around an f 8 (with a 35 mm lens), as opposed to closer to an f 2.2 like I usually do, and it. was. worth. it. A little darker than my usual but very dramatic.

A bit of close-ups…

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And some distance shots, because it in fact looks like Mars out there.

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Believe me about the flowy dress in the breeze??

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We were out running around and exploring until the sun went down behind the dunes.

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And this last one — also a fave because I think it looks like it should be the cover of a dramatic romance novel:

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And that’s the day. A gorgeous sand dunes engagement session. These two were definitely adventurous at heart, and it made working with them so easy and fun. Sand, sun, heat, wind, long drives, and steep hikes – we saw it all, and nothing phased them. Instead, they rolled with it and had an incredible time taking engagement photos in a session I imagine they’ll remember for a long while.

Ready to chat about your engagement plans? Contact me, and let’s start planning your adventure.