Samantha and Geoff traveled from Sydney Australia to marry in Yosemite. As far as I know, that's just about as far as someone can travel to get married. They were joined by Samatha's longtime friend Lindessa who drove up from Palm Springs just for the wedding (and back down after it was over)!

After finalizing a time and location, we decided on having the wedding in a meadow just behind the Yosemite Chapel as the sun set behind El Capitan. We met for the first time Tuesday afternoon and she looked stunning, just ask Geoff! Earlier in the afternoon Samantha had gone to Bellissimo Brides to have have her hair done and it looked amazing. Reverend Carol Dewey officiated the ceremony which was simple and beautiful.

I have really come to love elopements--they are like a full blown wedding stripped down to the core, the love between a husband and wife. There was absolutely nothing to distract from the love of these two. But in this case, there was another little girl present, their soon-to-come daughter Winter who held her own special place in the ceremony. Have I mentioned I love what I do?

Samantha took a little longer to arrive than planned, but that just us more time to hang out and get to know Geoff. In case you are wondering, Geoff = very cool guy.  Once we got rid of all traces of daylight, things got interesting :) Shooting in the forest in complete darkness is not the easiest thing to pull off, but I always enjoy a good challenge. Fortunately, Samantha and Geoff ROCKED these shots!