This past June, Brent and I took a trip to the Southwest and spent a few days in Las Vegas. A couple of weeks before I went, I got in touch with Monique through a local Facebook group about doing a photoshoot while I was there. She and her fiancé, Austin’s schedules ended up working out perfectly to make some photos together.  And good gracious am I ever glad it did.

We met at my hotel and drove out to a random dry lake bed just off the highway outside of Las Vegas. There was unexpected traffic, so when we got there the sun had already started to set and we were losing light fast. We ran out of the car and spent the next 20 minutes running around in the vast, flat desert as cars drove by, kicking up dust on the road. We shot well into dusk – and by the time we started back toward the city it had gotten dark and windy and the lights of the nearby buildings had winked on.

There’s just something about the desert. It’s so very different from the green and forests of New England but it has always felt a little bit like home to me. Maybe it’s all the memories of childhood trips to visit my family in Western Australia – of the heat and red sand and scrubby trees and open horizons. The sun in the desert is harsh and sets slowly and then all at once – turning everything blue and red and hazy. You can see in every direction. It’s stiflingly hot and dry and utterly, unforgivingly beautiful.

Monique and Austin are also wonderful. They didn’t blink when we were late and had to run to start shooting. They braved the sand and the temperatures and the cloud of annoying little flies that inexplicably turned up about halfway through the shoot. And through the whole thing they laughed together and Monique melted into Austin when he held her in the most beautiful way. They got married about a month after the shoot and moved and I am so thankful we got to meet before they left the city.

Take my efforts high above red hills
Bones of ribbon don’t stop me now
Whites went blue, then went yellow
Feet don’t stop me now
They found me there in the sands
Bones of ribbons in my hands
Whites went blue, then went yellow
Pull off the cloak, time off the wall

London Grammar – Bones of Ribbon

Thank you to City Blossoms for the straight-up amazing bouquet and for Makeup by Cassidy LV for the prettiest makeup for Monique. And if any of you are planning a destination wedding or elopement in the desert, hit me up. Because I am ready to go back.