Travel with Hunter and Sarah – Phoenix + Austin 2020
July 12, 2020
Back in January, Sarah and I had planned a trip to Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas for the Spring to shoot a couple of engagement sessions for two of our wedding couples, and spend some time seeing friends and enjoy ourselves along the way! But of course, when COVID-19 first began to spread rapidly in the US, there was so much uncertainty and fear. In an abundance of caution, Sarah and I decided to cancel that trip.
It was a huge bummer, as we had made plans to see my brother Tanner and his girlfriend Jess, and meet my new baby cousin Luca out in Phoenix! Plus, Christy and Matt — whose engagement session we were flying out there to shoot in the first place — would be getting married in the Fall of 2020, so we wouldn’t have much time to reschedule their trip.
So over Memorial Day Weekend, Sarah and I decided that the trip was now-or-never. It was already approaching oppressively hot in Phoenix, and if we didn’t go soon, it would be too hot to shoot right up until our fall season started. So in light of COVID cases that had been steadily falling around that time, we re-booked our flights and got ready to head out west! We even ran into our friend Liz on our first flight out! On our second flight, we discovered that American Airline’s “reduced capacity” was not exactly an accurate description π
When I first called Tanner to see if those dates worked for us to stay with them, he was thrilled. He also knew that the months of quarantine combined with the stress of buying a new house had worn on he and Jess. This would be the perfect boost of happiness to get them through the hot Arizona Summer, and hold them over until they flew east for our annual family beach week in August.
“You guys can stay with us on one condition,” he told me over the phone. “Don’t tell Jess. I want it to be a surprise!” So for weeks we planned in secret, telling very few people about our trip, afraid that word would make it back to Jess. When we rang Tanner and Jess’ doorbell and he asked her to answer the door, the look on her face was worth all that travel!
When we scheduled the trip, we knew we’d be coming out during the week, and that Tanner and Jess would have to work most of the days we were out there. But we had no problem keeping busy! When we weren’t prepping for our desert photoshoot or doing a bit of work ourselves, we earned our keep by assembling a few pieces of furniture and hanging curtains. They hadn’t even been in the house a month when we showed up on their front door!
But man, do they have good taste or what?! The house is beautiful, and they’ve done a fantastic job decorating so far. Sarah and I loved hanging out in their open-floor plan living/kitchen area with them. And we especially loved playing with their new puppy Milo! He was only 16 weeks old when we were out there, but his paws were as big as Sarah’s palms. He’s going to be a BIG dogge!
Thanks to the early sunrise and us still being on East Coast time, Sarah and I were up at 5:00 am our first morning in Phoenix. We hopped in the car and headed to a few potential photoshoot spots that we had researched ahead of time.
There are so many gorgeous desert parks in the North Scottsdale area, and we were getting SO excited for the session!
Then… we saw it…
Hmmm… That’s new. We didn’t run into that when we were shooting in Scottsdale last year. Okay, no worries! A lot of places we shoot have session fees or ask us to secure a date with them before a session. So after we got back from scouting – just 20 hours before the session – we called the Park to reserve a spot. “Oh you want to shoot at Pinnacle Peak Park or the McDowell Sonoran Preserve? No problem. It’s a $170 session fee and permit application. Should be processed and approved after 7-10 business days.”
…
WHAT!?
We only slightly panicked. We begged with them to expedite the pass while we gathered all the necessary insurance and business information that they needed (to take photos in a park… wut). Then we hopped in the car and began scouting for plan B. We had scouted at 6:00 am to stay out of the heat, but now it was early afternoon. So we sweat our way across a few other parks outside of Scottsdale. We found some spots, but nothing as beautiful and desert-y as the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
After much prayer and only a little bit of panic, a miracle occured. We got a call from the folks at the Preserve 30 minutes before their offices closed to let us know that they had expedeited our permit, and we were goot to shoot the following day. Praise! We went out for a brunch to celebrate.
In the end, we were SO glad that we went through all the trouble to secure the session. And since we only used one location, it was only a $60 fee. As the sun rose over the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Sarah and I were totally geeking out over the desert light. It was so soft, so smooth, and so even. Then, when the sun finally rose above the mountain, we had the perfect glowy light around Christy and Matt’s heads.
If you want to see more from that session, we blogged about it as soon as we got back from our trip. Despite having to wake up at 5:00 am two mornings in a row, it was absolutely worth it. We felt like we could’ve shot with them all day long! Then it hit 7:30 am and was already approaching 90 degrees and we thought that breakfast with Christy and Matt sounded like a better idea.
We went out with Tanner and Jess to run some errands that afternoon, and when we walked back into Tanner and Jess’s house, this time it was our turn to be surprised! Our good friends Charlie and Bailey surprised US! You might recognize them from our Outer Banks Oceanfront Session, and Charlie has been one of my closest friends since we were 14.
That night, the six of us went out for the first time, and were lucky enough to find some mostly-empty bars practicing socially-distant seating. It felt surreal to actually be out eating and having drinks at a restaurant again!
The next day was our last in Arizona, and we still had some family to visit. That afternoon we went over to Dean and Lisa’s house and spent the afternoon hanging with them in their pool! We also got to meet baby Luca for the first time, and we love him already! We didn’t get any photos in the heat of the moment, but a pretty intense water-slide distance contest broke out in the backyard π
One really cool moment for us was when we walked into their living room. We hadn’t been over at their house since their Lake Como Wedding last August, and to see so many of our images from that weekend hanging on their wall was really special to us! I promise Sarah’s smiling beneath that mask.
The next day we grabbed one final breakfast in town, then hopped on our flight to Austin. It thankfully wasn’t as crowded as our flight out west. As much as we had loved our time in Phoenix (we could’ve shot sunrise sessions every day in that light!), the resurgence of COVID in Arizona had just started as we arrived, and we weren’t exactly upset to be leaving what would become one of the national hot-spots.
We arrived in Austin late and were watching the forecast like hawks. We had originally planned a sunrise session for the following morning to beat the heat, but now we were more worried about rain. According to the forecast, it was going to rain the entire 60 hours that we were in Austin, with the exception of two overcast hours after sunrise. And even those two hours had a 30% chance of rain.
We decided to take the chance and plan for the following morning. When we arrived at Zilker Park and finally met Katie and Boris in person at 6:30 am, it was overcast like we expected. We fended off the occasional drizzle with clear umbrellas, but about 45 minutes into the session, the skies opened up. And I mean OPENED. Up. We had never been outside in rain that hard – the jogging path was transformed into a river, and we sprinted back to their car.
The good news is that thanks to all of our photoshography experience and our shooting and posing systems, we were able to capture dozens of beautiful photos during what turned out to be a mini-session! You can see more here!
We grabbed breakfast with Katie and Boris afterwards at Torchy’s Tacos – a local Austin Taco chain that’s famous for their tacos and queso. Anyone who knows Sarah knows that she would have elected to eat there for every meal, but we thought just a few times was enough π Boris, who had taken the day off for the session, was kind enough to give us a tour around Austin after breakfast! He showed us some of the most beautiful areas outside the city, and gave us a better sense of the city as a while.
Of course, by the time we had finished breakfast and Katie had gone into work, the rain had stopped. FOR THE REST OF THE TRIP. *facepalm* In the end, it all worked out, as this gave us an excuse to give them a second mini-session when the next time they’re in Charlottesville! It’s the perfect compromise for Austin-loving Boris and Charlottesville-native Katie!
After our tour with Boris and a quick nap to recover from the sunrise session), Sarah and I spent most of our remaining time in Austin exploring an area called South Congress.
It was right around the corner from our AirBnB, and was a great spot for shopping, food, drinks, and sunsets!
That evening, we went to a few different places for apps, drinks and dinner (all while wearing our masks, of course) to celebrate our third wedding anniversary, which just happened to coincide with our trip! It was a wonderful evening, and it felt so special to celebrate in a new city.
Our last day in Austin, we hung out at an incredible riverfront coffee shop called Mozart’s while we dreamed about the future. We chatted about what we thought would take our business to the next level, and allow us to travel more for incredible couples like we had been doing all week! It was a really cool conversation, and an even cooler place to have it!
That afternoon, we continued to explore Austin — Sarah even found a mural that she just HAD to have a photo with! We finished our trip with another meal with Katie and Boris – they were right, you really can’t go wrong with Maudie’s Mexican!
The following day we said goodbye to our dope AirBnB (and Sarah said goodbye to her new friends — she didn’t know I was recording π€£) and we grabbed one final taco from Torchy’s before hopping on the plane, C’ville bound.
We had such a good time with friends in Phoenix, and exploring Austin! We already can’t wait to go back, and we especially can’t wait until traveling is safe again!
—
Well, that’s it! Thanks for following along, and check out the links below if you want more adventures with Hunter and Sarah!