A few years ago, after years of teaching small, in-person photography workshops in our hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona, we released our first online course called the Shooting & Editing Course. At the time, we just wanted a way to reach and help more people who wanted to come learn in person, but couldn’t take the time off work or leave their kids for that many days to fly across the country. We never imagined that, two years later, we’d have thousands of students from all over the U.S. and around the world. It’s crazy!
Among the many blessings that’ve come from our online courses, one of the most welcomed and unexpected, is people like this. Andrea is one of our online course students from New York. We never met in person before she enrolled in our course. We didn’t know each other at all. Then, one day, we got an email that she and Justin were engaged, and they wanted to hire us to fly to New York and photograph their wedding there! Such an honor!
Even though we get to connect with a lot of our students online, we don’t get to meet very many of them in person. So it’s a special treat when we get the chance to photograph our students — especially in Arizona (like we did for Luisa and Douglas) — because it gives Jordan a chance to do one of his favorite things: play Desert Tour Guide and give out enough restaurant recommendations to last a month!
We had an unseasonably cold, wet winter here in the desert. It even snowed multiple inches just miles from our house –– AND STAYED FOR TWO DAYS! Because of all the rain and snow, by the time Andrea and Justin arrived for their desert engagement session, the desert was in full bloom, more lush and overgrown than we’ve ever seen it, and we’ve lived here since we were little kids. It was so much fun showing them our beautiful state and why we love living here so much. It’s pretty different than the tall buildings and busy streets of NYC. That’s for sure!
Andrea and Justin, you two couldn’t be kinder, sweeter souls. We were already so excited for your wedding this fall, but our time together built our anticipation that much more. You guys are beautiful inside and out, and we can’t wait to get you in front of our cameras again. Here are some of our favorite photos from your engagement session. We hope you love them as much as we do. Which might be hard. Because we love them a lot!
