ELOPEMENT STYLED SHOOT IN SEDONA, ARIZONA
An Epic Day in Sedona
I got the chance to plan an elopement styled shoot on a recent trip to Arizona. I knew I would be in Sedona doing some hiking and taking in the views, and I thought, "what better place to style an elopement!?" The Sedona scenery is absolutely breathtaking, from the moment you start driving into town. Red rock formations sprawl for miles in every direction, making it almost impossible to find a view that's not stunning!
On the day of Liv and Myles' shoot, the forecast called for rain almost all day. I woke up to 35-degree temps, and decided to go on a "sunrise" hike while I had a couple hour window with no precipitation. After summiting Cathedral Rock and having it nearly 100% to myself (no exaggeration!), I decided to hit one more hike before the rain started - and I set off for the Devil's Bridge. Once again, because of the cold and impending rain, I shared the trail with very few people! A rare experience in Sedona in the spring. (Did I mention I found parking at both trailheads?!)
While I don't necessarily recommend doing both these hikes in one day, especially with no prior research like I did (ha!), I had the BEST day of hiking - taking in arguably the best two views in the Sedona area. As I was heading down from Devil's Bridge and back to my car, the rain indeed started to come down. It continued to rain for the next few hours.... which had me a little worried about our shoot that night. While I looked up at the snow-covered rock formations (yep, the rain had turned to snow at the higher elevations!) I texted Liv, "I'm still down if you guys are!"
...and the rest is history. YA'LL. These two took the 2-hour trip from Phoenix (that turned into a 3-hour trip because of the rain), and it was SO worth it. They are a stunning couple and were so easy to work with! They both do some modeling, and it showed! We took the short hike on Secret Sliderock trail, which, in my opinion, is one of the easiest hikes for the view at the end! We were met with a sprawling ridge overlooking Cathedral Rock.
While it was 40 degrees and Liv was undoubtedly shivering the entire session, you'd never know it! The rain that day had filled the mesa with pools of water, and every direction we looked there was something different - warm skies and sun poking through the clouds to the west, yet stormy skies lingered to the southeast. It made for some pretty epic photos, but I'll let those speak for themselves!
And THAT is how you have one very epic day in Sedona :)
