Sedona, Arizona | Couple’s session

Sedona in the summertime is a whole mood. The red rocks hold onto the heat, the light goes gold and impossibly soft in the last hour before sunset, and the whole desert feels like it’s exhaling. It is one of my favorite places on earth to photograph two people who are genuinely obsessed with each other — and Clay and Bailey are exactly that.

How Clay and Bailey met

Clay and Bailey met almost a decade ago through mutual friends. They became inseparable after their first date and knew they had big plans for their future almost right away. They both knew those plans would include jiu-jitsu, and they continue to support each other every day to help grow each other’s dreams.

Why you don’t need an occasion to get photographed

Most people wait for a reason. An engagement, a wedding, a baby. But some of the best sessions I shoot are the ones with no milestone attached at all — just two people, a place they love, and an hour of light.

That’s what this was. No ring reveal, no countdown, no checklist of shots to get through. Just Clay and Bailey in the desert, being exactly who they are together. It’s a different kind of gallery. Looser. More honest. The photos aren’t documenting an announcement — they’re documenting a relationship at a specific moment in time, which is arguably the more valuable thing to have twenty years from now.

If you’ve been thinking we should really get photos done sometime — that’s the reason. That’s enough.

Why Sedona in the summer

Summer in Sedona gets a bad reputation, and I get why — it’s hot. But if you plan around it, the payoff is enormous:

• Golden hour lasts forever. The long summer days mean a late, slow, generous sunset, and the red rock formations glow like they’re lit from inside.
• Monsoon skies. Late-summer afternoons bring dramatic cloud build-up, which means texture and depth instead of a flat blue background.
• Fewer crowds at the right hours. Early morning and late evening sessions give you the iconic viewpoints with a fraction of the foot traffic.
• That color palette. Rust, sage, terracotta, deep green juniper. Sedona does the styling work for you.

For summer sessions here, I almost always recommend sunrise or the final ninety minutes before sunset, comfortable shoes, and more water than you think you need. Then we wander.

Planning a couples session in Sedona

I’m a wedding photographer based in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and I travel constantly — Arizona and Florida most frequently of all, for couples sessions, weddings, and editorial work. If you’re local to Sedona, Phoenix, or Flagstaff, or you’re planning a trip out to the red rocks, I’d genuinely love to hear about it.

A few things worth knowing if you’re considering a Sedona session:

• Permits matter. Many of the most photographed spots sit on Forest Service land or within state park boundaries, and commercial photography rules vary by location. I handle the logistics, but it shapes where we shoot.
• Timing beats everything. The location list is less important than the hour we choose.
• Build in a buffer. Sedona traffic at peak season is real. We give ourselves margin so the session never feels rushed.
• Bring two outfits, max. One flowy and movement-friendly, one you feel like yourself in. That’s plenty.

Thank you, Clay and Bailey

Almost ten years of showing up for each other, and they’re just getting started. Thank you both for trusting me with this, for the friendship, and for letting me tag along to the desert. Here’s to the big plans — all of them.