I couldn’t resist taking a behind the scenes photo of a recent desert portrait session.

Bringing the studio to the outdoors has a few moving parts but the results are well worth it. The beauty of the desert – especially the open areas around the Four Seasons Scottsdale – are exactly what you conjure up in your mind when thinking of the Arizona landscape. 

By bringing the set outdoors, we could accomplish well lit photos as if we were in a studio as well as photos of the couple in the perfect natural light closer to sunset. The end result were gorgeous portraits.

This photo is a reminder to all of us couples out there that we need to have our photos taken on a regular basis, just because.

Since Keith and I have been married I think we have had our photo taken once as a family and once as a couple. No bueno!  A lot has happened to us as a couple over the last 17+ years and I would be dishonest if I didn’t admit that I wish we had taken a few more together along the way. 

Heck I love my kids but they don’t need to be in every single photo of us together. What I love about this couple is that they were here to celebrate their anniversary – and just wanted photos of the two of them, no kids, no family, just the two of them. This is genius. I want to yell it out loud – all of us should do this in some shape or form!!

While the engagement session has become synonymous with a couple getting married, one more thing for them to check off their TODO list, it seems to end there for many couples. A session for a couple is pretty much forgotten about after the wedding day. Maybe a family session or two over the years. But often enough, parents don’t even jump into family sessions. A lot of times it’s just the kids or maybe one static posed photo of the whole family. But nothing fun and romantic of the couple.

I love Keith more and more every year. I love that we are getting old together. I love that we aren’t as young as when we met. I love that I look over at him while we are driving and just can’t believe how lucky I am. I want to remember each chapter in our lives together. 

I want to look back when I’m 80 and remember what we looked like when we were 35, 45, 55 – you get it. Couples sessions shouldn’t be just for a couple about to be married, they should be for all of us that want to celebrate the person that we love and love being with day in and day out. Now I just need to put my money where my mouth and make this a habit!