Utah desert engagement session | utah adventure wedding photographer | desert elopement inspiration

We had so much fun with this session and even though we changed plans quite a few times, I honestly don't think it could have been better! Despite the fact that this was the first time we officially met Tom and Ash, it wasn't the first time we took photos of them! These two are fellow skydivers and also BASE jumpers, and it almost feels like fate that we ended up spending this windy evening in the Utah desert taking their engagement photos. Last fall when we were living in Moab for a stint, we stuck around through the end of November so we could experience the legendary Turkey Boogie and GGBY festival where BASE jumpers, highliners, paragliders, and all around desert lovers connect near Moab for a week of high-stakes adventure and creativity. On Thanksgiving day after enjoying a delicious meal at the Moab community center (nothing has ever made us feel more "local"), Callen and I set up our hammock near the landing zone for a popular BASE jump near town to watch jumpers and nap off the turkey.  I ended up taking a few photos of people jumping and while I always try to get contact info after taking photos of athletes, a few of them left before we could grab them. So I posted the final gallery on a Facebook page for the event hoping the jumpers in my photos would be able to find themselves and sure enough, Ash and Tom were those jumpers! They found their photos and have been following us ever since, so when it came time to do engagement photos they were thrilled to know some photographers that not only love adventure but also take great couples photos (their words, not mine ;))

SO. That was a long intro to how they found us, but I think it's a pretty special story! Anyway, they were coming to Utah for a short BASE jumping trip and wanted to get photos done at a location special to them. We originally planned on their session ending in some BASE jumps, but as you'll see from the photos, we ended up braving 50+ mph winds all evening so that wasn't much of an option! After a last minute location change (they literally found this spot the morning of the session!) we ended up in one of the most beautiful little sandstone mesa/valley (what is this place?) areas I've ever been - and we had it all to ourselves! They played in the wind and took in a gorgeous sunset together. It was magic. After the sun went down, we hiked back in a dim mix of last sunlight and a bit of moon light talking about everything from extreme sports to their plans for an intimate wedding in Australia, where Ash is from. It was such a wonderful evening and we had a hard time saying goodbye to these new friends at the end of it!

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The Hearnes Adventure Photography is run by Abbi and Callen Hearne, a husband & wife wedding photography team with an emphasis on adventure. They live on the road as full-time nomads in their big white van, allowing them to serve a large portion of the western US including California, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. They believe love is the greatest adventure and strive to create photos that are epic, romantic, true, and timeless.

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