It’s me, hi! I’m your elopement photographer who also happens to be a Grand Canyon National Park maniac. I take pride in holding the shared role of your photographer first, and your Grand Canyon lover second. Mostly though, I feel equally split between the two! This is my story of becoming obsessed with Grand Canyon photography and how that fuels the passion I have for photographing couples like you!
Park Meets Girl: From Photographer to Grand Canyon Guide
I basically have always been a photographer. I picked up my first camera at the age of 16 beginning with learning the craft of film photography. Back in high school on the East Coast, I spent countless hours in the dark room developing film.
After high school, I found my first photography job working at a one-hour film lab and photography studio in my local mall. I ended up working in film photography developing at Picture People before leaving for a different portrait studio. I was at the secondary studio for seven years developing my skills until leaving for the Grand Canyon.
Integral to my leap into the unknown was picking up the book Delaying the Real World: A Twentysomething’s Guide to Seeking Adventure by Colleen Kinder. There was a section about working in national parks and I half jokingly applied. A couple months later, I was surprised by a job offer.
At the height of the economic recession in 2009, I drove out to work at Grand Canyon National Park. I was placed at a little desk inside the Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins along the South Rim selling mule tours. At the same time, I started building my own Grand Canyon photography business shooting Grand Canyon portraits, proposals and engagement sessions.
My Favorite Park Jobs
Of all the positions I’ve held in the park, my favorite one came next as the Grand Canyon photographer and Social Media Manager for the Grand Canyon Conservancy. This organization is the official non-profit partner of the park that raises funds for a lot of really amazing endeavors.
Getting to photograph an insider look at the dark skies, bat research, building restoration, and more really connected me to the canyon on a deeper level. While that role was eventually dissolved, to this day I still enjoy shooting events for them! For a time, I also hopped around other national parks working at Death Valley and Grand Teton for a bit!
Since those early days, I’ve now worked just about everywhere in the park. I still provide Grand Canyon guided tours and I love volunteering for the Preventive Search and Rescue team. Additionally, I enjoy serving with the National Park Service including participation in their living history programs.
My most recent Grand Canyon adventure as a volunteer included hiking out for eight days in the inner canyon removing non-native fish species from Bright Angel Creek. I did so alongside the Grand Canyon National Park Fisheries team and it was definitely one of my favorite volunteer efforts to date!
How I Fell in Love With the Grand Canyon National Park
Surprisingly, it wasn’t love at first sight and my experience of arriving in Arizona was instead that of culture shock. It felt like living in a small mining or company town which was completely unfamiliar and made me feel homesick. Having never even visited the Grand Canyon area before, it took me a while to adjust.
I had no grasp of the Grand Canyon size, how far a distance it was to the Grand Canyon West Skywalk, and that it snowed! I was completely unprepared for my first Grand Canyon National Park winter with three feet of accumulated snowfall. That was more than I had seen back east in New Jersey for many years!
I didn’t really begin to love it all until I started regularly doing Grand Canyon National Park hikes. I remember my first overnight experience was a two-day hike to the bottom of the canyon in November. We explored Phantom Ranch and Ribbon Falls and then it was time to climb back up. It took me 9.5 hours on the Bright Angel Trail with a loaded pack and I cried once I reached the top. This is something that my hiking partner will never allow me to forget!
After this transformative experience, it motivated me to take my Grand Canyon photography on every trail and hike route (mostly ones not found on maps) in the park. I want to summit buttes, descend on ropes, and continue canyoneering into slot canyons. Twice now I have rowed my boat down the Colorado River on about a 30-day long trip each time.
How Having a Grand Canyon Photography Obsession Makes My Client’s Photos Great
I often can’t stop myself from telling my clients geology fun facts or the Native American history of the canyon as we’re shooting their session. Our time together isn’t supposed to be a tour, but as your resident Grand Canyon wedding photographer–I just can’t help it!
I see it as my job to make your visit full of insider info and opportunities that invigorate you. That is why in our elopement planning process, I also provide area info, elopement location ideas, and general travel information. I can also assist in scheduling your trip around any of the annual Grand Canyon events:
I love helping with your entire Grand Canyon experience so you’re able to be present in the moment. This matters to me just as much as I want you to come away with your photographic memories of it all. My desire as you smell the sage and the vanilla off the ponderosa pine trees is for you to feel connected to the earth. Basically, I hope my couples will gain just a taste of the love and reverence that I hold for this national park!
Long before Grand Canyon photography was on the horizon, it was my passion for taking beautiful photos that led me to falling in love with the setting I’m privileged to capture. After living and photographing this space for the past 15 years–it still never gets old.
PIN THIS
