Early last year, I had the idea to photograph families in beautiful places. I mean, everywhere I shoot is beautiful in its own way but I wanted to showcase the truly jaw-dropping places we have in our state. At first there were a lot of ideas of where these sessions could take place. Because I take great pride in the art I create for families, I wanted to test these locations out. Every once in a while, I run model calls on my site (you can check back to this page for updates). I had always heard about Hurricane Ridge but never been there so I opened up a model call to shoot up there so I could understand the light and how I wanted to use it.
The first time I traveled up there, I got there about 3 hours before my shoot was scheduled to start so I could roam around. As I strapped on my backpack and headed up the trail the first thing I noticed was the silence. Our lives are so busy so rarely do hear nothing but the wind. I hiked for about an hour, constantly amazed by the breathtaking view as I rounded each bend. I remember sitting on a rock, all alone with these towering peaks looming in the distance and I felt so at peace.
Since that day I have had quite a few family sessions in the mountains. While I know it won’t be as quiet, hello children, I still want it to be magical. This family was full of so much love for each other they made my job easy. I also don’t think I have photographed a kid who made me laugh more than their oldest son.
