Amy and Alec share a HUGE love of hiking and the great outdoors, so right off the bat, we knew there was no better setting possible for their incredible engagement session than in the wilderness of Yosemite National Park. It was the perfect meeting ground between Los Angeles (where Amy and Alec live) and San Francisco, and we ended up staying two nights just outside Yosemite in Mariposa, CA in order to make the most of our time together!

Shooting in national parks can sometimes be a bit of a logistics puzzle (getting there, scouting locations, permits, etc.), but thanks to my good friend Isabell’s excellent Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, our back-to-back epic sunset and sunrise sessions came off without a hitch! If you’re a photographer thinking of planning a session in Yosemite, I HIGHLY giving Isabell’s guide a read. There was incredibly valuable planning information in it that I definitely wouldn’t have known about before arriving at the park!

Yosemite is truly a magical destination. It’s insane to reflect on how relatively close it is to San Francisco, yet how remote and grand the scenery feels once you step inside the park. Even on our first night in the area, I felt completely in awe of the space around us – plus, I was treated to my first ever shooting star sighting that evening! Our “sunset” session the next day really started in the early afternoon, since it took several hours to get to our shoot location from the park entrance. I think we all let out a collective gasp once we got to Taft Point. There’s really not much more I can say to do the place justice with just words.. so I hope you all enjoy the images!

I sincerely couldn’t have asked for a better couple to explore this space with. Thank you Amy and Alec for trusting me on my first-ever Yosemite session. These two are a complete joy to be around, and taking photos of the two of them dancing along the cliffside was totally effortless. I’m so excited for their upcoming marriage, congratulations again to these two!!