Nicole and Johannes were gazing on the beauty of Yosemite and the United States for the first time, native to Germany they took an extended holiday and drove to multiple parks on the West Coast. I love the romance of two souls venturing together and experiencing new places and things for the first time in each other’s company. I of course took them up on their offer to have their engagement shoot in Yosemite and I took a roadtrip myself to make it happen. Starting from my home in Tacoma, WA all the way down Interstate 5 into a little hostel just outside of Mariposa, CA. Our accommodations were modest, heavy canvas tents precariously surrounded by poison oak and nettles. But quite honestly it felt pretty damn good to have a primitive connection to the area as opposed to the distance provided by drywall and the trappings of modern comforts.
Yosemite has always been popular. But it seems that it currently exploding with interest and people are flocking there now more than ever. I hope that we can maintain it’s wildness and rugged beauty and isolation for the enjoyment of future visitors. Yosemite was one of America’s first national parks and most certainly one of it’s most grand and iconic.
We rose early on our first day of shooting and shot mainly on the Valley floor with the towering Yosemite Falls as our first backdrop, which is one of the tallest waterfalls in the world (and tallest in the USA). The sun was slowly waking up as we were shooting and we caught some of the first bits of light coming into the Valley. Our second day of shooting was just before sunset with a whole new variety of scenery including a different perspective of the classic Tunnel View and Glacier Point which has one of the most stunning views in the world.
I appreciate the chance to meet these two wanderers and I had an amazing time with them showing them the sights, enjoying dining together in the stunning Awahnee (Majestic Yosemite Hotel), and capturing their love and of course by discussing the comparative differences of every facet of American culture to their native Germany (which slightly made me wish I were a Bavarian!)
