A few years back, Michelle assisted me with an engagement session I photographed in Big Sur. She’s a photographer herself, and it was great to have a knowledgable person helping out. So I was thrilled to hear that she wanted to hire me for a Big Sur engagement session of her own.

This was technically not an engagement session, since she and Aaron had married in Germany, where he’s stationed. They were back in the US to celebrate with family.

We had to scramble to schedule their engagement session; the El Niño-fueled weather had rain in the forecast for nearly their entire visit. The session started in foggy Monterey, where we visited a couple locations of their first dates.

Once in Big Sur, we did some photos with Michelle’s dogs, and then did some exploration of the forests and coastal cliffs. The surf was high, and we had crashing waves as a background for some shots.

After visiting the Big Sur River, we did some twilight photos atop Hurricane Point, a place where I almost never shoot because it’s usually so windy. The calm night and cloudy skies made for my favorite shots of the day.

See the rest of my favorites from Michelle & Aaron’s Big Sur engagement session in the gallery below.