Big Sur California Engagement Session

Mayra reached out to me in February of 2020 about possibly shooting some engagement photos for her and her fiancé in Big Sur California. I was super pumped about this because the Coast of California is one of my favorite places in the States. I replied to her and then there was no response. Honestly I thought she had just gone a different route and then a few weeks later everything changed as Covid took over the world. I totally forgot about Mayra’s inquiry until I received another email from her in July. Thanks to the lockdowns they had yet to get their engagement photos done and they wanted to book me ASAP! We scheduled their session a few weeks later at Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur. They chose this beach because it was where Jose proposed! I flew into LA a few days before the session to see some friends and then made the drive up to Big Sur. Unbeknownst to me someone had started a fire in Big Sur the night before Mayra and Jose's session. I have done this drive several times and realized early on that the GPS was taking me a different route but just thought it was traffic. Since I was driving and couldn’t really check I just went with it. About halfway there it looked like I had entered a war zone. The air became thick with smoke and covered the sky creating this eerie glow from the sun. I get to where I turn on Highway 1 and it all clears up! I was like thank the Lord! The fires must be farther east, but right before I get to the park the smoke is back and I am like what the heck! I also just need to mention that there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO SERVICE ON HIGHWAY 1. So I could not check to see what was going on! I meet up with Mayra & Jose and we head down to the beach! The smoke honestly just made it look like it was a cloudy day and thanks to it the beach was pretty empty! So we run around taking photos and it's great! We are a little bummed though because we all thought we would not get a great sunset! We are way into golden hour and it just looks gray! We are starting to wrap up the shoot when all of a sudden the sun peaks beneath the smoke line and sets the sky ABLAZE! Seriously I have never seen a sunset like this! If you scrolled down to the bottom you will see that it looked like we had been transported to mars it was so orange! And before anyone thinks I edited the photos to look that way, I DID NOT! In fact I pulled the orange tons way down in all those photos! Anyways we end the shoot and say goodbye after the most glorious sunset and I head home! Like I said earlier I have no service so I just head back to my friends house the way I know, down Highway 1. I make it about 40 minutes when I come around a curve and the ENTIRE MOUNTAIN SIDE IS ON FIRE and there is a little tiny sign that says the road is closed in 1500 feet. Needless to say I made it home eventually and this session was an adventure for sure! The next day I found out that not only were we that close to the fire in Big Sig, but there were some fires north of our location as well. Crazy experience for sure but made for some epic sunset photos for sure!