When I can find the time to steal a few days for myself, nothing beats going for a drive through beautiful country. And in my opinion, the drive on NM highway 550 is one of the most visually interesting stretches of road that New Mexico has to offer. There is one spot in particular that has always caught my eye – a little area of barren desert where gray hills touch the blue sky. The hills are a dark gray color that is almost reminiscent of elephant skin when driving by at 75mph. With my passion for wedding photography and love of landscapes, what better accessory to this scene than a white veil being picked up by the breeze? That was the vision that I had in my head for the last 3 years every time I saw this spot.

This shoot started coming together when I met Amber during a photo session. This blonde haired, blue eyed, long-legged sweetheart was going to have an out-of-state wedding and then be moving shortly after with her handsome military husband. I knew that we just had to take advantage of the New Mexico landscape and put together a bridal session to showcase the absolute best that this state has to offer.

On the day of the shoot, we arrived at the spot that I had driven by so many times. There were only a few clouds in the sky and it was a hot day with the temperatures hovering around 95. I was more concerned for Mack and Amber to ensure that they would be comfortable and have fun during the shoot. When we got to the shooting spot, we were surprised to find out that the hills were made up of gray clay dirt clods. This wasn’t the smooth and hard surface that I had envisioned in my head. I had come out with specific ideas for this shoot, but seeing it all in person was almost overwhelming with all the new ideas popping up.

To make this shoot come together so flawlessly, I had the help of some amazing local vendors. Bridal Elegance by Darlene provided two of the dresses for this session. Albuquerque Florist provided both of the gorgeous bouquets and were so helpful in making sure that this came together. Dina DeVore helped me on location with last minute styling as well as general photography assisting.

To all the brides and grooms out there reading this post: Did you know that we can incorporate these kinds of ideas into your wedding day? With a little bit of planning and given the creative “green light”, we can make something extraordinary happen just for you!

I hope you enjoy this set! I originally posted collages of this set on Facebook but there is so much detail in most of these images that I think they need to be viewed a bit larger.

The groom reach out for his stunning bride

Look at the texture on those hills and the way the golden sunlight washes over the couple and the earth

One of my favorite images from the day. Mack helping to fluff Amber’s dress

One of the first images taken with my new love – a Canon 24mm L tilt shift lens.

The theme that we were working with was yellow!

Gorgeous bouquet by Albuquerque Florist. My favorite part about this bouquet are the little puffs of yellow. The flowers are called Billy Balls

Still getting used to the tilt shift

Another favorite. I love the simplicity of the colors and landscape.

Channeling my inner Jerry Ghionis for this shot

With NASA recently landing Curiosity on Mars….I think this image fits 🙂 Who knew that New Mexico could look like Mars?

Another one of my favorites

And now for the sundown portion of the shoot and time to light all the candles!