Arianne and Marcel are both outdoor enthusiasts, and both at one point participated in leading outdoor adventure groups in college. I knew from the beginning that whatever location they picked for their engagement shoot, it would be epic. After anxiously watching the weather get worse and worse throughout November (well, you know, by California standards), we were excited that the day we planned for our adventure turned out cool but sunny and clear. Arianne and Marcel picked Pinnacles National Park, which is in the nowheresland outside of Soledad. It was a bit of a drive, and after we stopped for some delicious lunch (and got quite carsick on the drive into the park), it was the perfect time of day by the time we got to our location. For those who want to know, we parked at the Chaparral Trailhead Parking lot, which had an incredible view of the peaks. It was not quite 3pm when we started out on our hike up to the overlook. We stopped for photos and condor sightings, and we thought we had plenty of daylight left. Well, as it turns out, it was a very deep canyon, and about halfway up the mountain we realized the sun was already slipping away. We all wanted to catch even just one ray of sunlight, so we made a mad dash for the top. Let me tell you, I haven’t felt the burn like that in a while. But we made it just to catch literally 3 minutes of sun, and it was SO WORTH IT. And lucky for me, Arianne and Marcel’s expertise in adventuring meant that they brought snacks to share (so sweet!) and enough flashlights to keep our path well lit on the way back down. This shoot was such a blast – I love pairing my passion for photographing people in love with my passion for the outdoors. I can not WAIT for Arianne and Marcel’s wedding in Tahoe next year!
