The desert is really freaking weird, y’all. I’m not going to lie when I tell you that I was scared shitless driving into the unknown depths of Death Valley. I was traveling solo because I had just photographed an epic elopement at Mt.Whitney. I’ve traveled up and down Hwy 395 too many times to count, and every time the Death Valley turn outs show up on the side of the road, my heart told me to go there. So finally, after years of yearning, I took the leap of faith and turned down Hwy 138 to Death valley.

Rewind about one month before this, I decided to post on Instagram to announce that I was going to Death Valley to shoot at the famous sand dunes and if any couples wanted to meet up and shoot here together. I wasn’t expecting anyone to answer since it was a long trek out there and I only had one day of availability. But low and behold, within about 20 minutes I got a DM from the wonderful Cheryl! After a few minutes of chatting, it was official! We were going to celebrate their marriage in Death Valley!

On the day of their shoot, I began driving the long road into the desert to meet strangers I met on the internet in a location I’ve never been to with zero cell service. Basically everything my mother told me not to do. But MAN was it worth it! Besides being completely out of breath from trekking up and down the dunes, it was the perfect shoot. Cher & Marcus were an absolute dream and I’m so glad I trusted my gut to do this shoot.