Engagement Portrait Session at Big Sur [Ashley + Stephan]

ished for a long time ( two months to be exact). Here, I am sitting in front of the computer and typing, inspired by the adventurous souls of Ashley and Stephan and the magical beauty of the west coast with its unique silent redwoods and windy dramatic beaches.

When Ashley and I were trying to decide where to capture their engagement portraits with Stephan we had many options from a summer ranch house Ashley’s family is owning in the Bay Area to anywhere we can get for a one-day trip. Doing an adventurous engagement session that involves a one-day journey at least had been on my travel work list for a while. Finally, it was achieved- a day trip to Big Sur.

And because Ashley, Stephan, and I saw each other in person for the first time, (we have only seen each other once on facetime) first we met at the Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant. It’s right on highway 1 on the right side if you drive south. Great food and atmosphere complemented with an outdoor sitting area! Maybe because it was Sunday at the end of October, but it was pretty quiet around 2 pm.

The fun part of the whole trip and photo shoot was that none of us had ever been to exactly this area and location, so we had no idea where we were going to shoot. We had only driven by a time ago, but never stop to explore it.

Of course, we did some research in advance and we had a few places in mind. First, we stopped by the Redwood Deck. Beautiful place… if you want to get photos where the water is accessible to walk in that’s the place, as I have always wanted to. So to me, this whole photo shoot was a dream come true. The bonus part was that the river was surrounded by redwoods which brought the real story of the redwoods in Big Sur. After that, we drove on a narrow almost one-way road to discover the gorgeous windy hidden Pfeiffer Beach. But for sure we couldn’t go home without wrapping up at the Bixby Creek Bridge at twilight.

I can’t wait to see Ashley and Stephan as a bride and groom in September because their love story is a special one, but for that later in their wedding blog post.

I am so thankful to Ashley and Stephan for their adventurous spirit to be able to make these breathtaking photos of them at one of the most exclusive locations in The USA.