Golden Hour Sand Dunes Engagement Session | Southern California

Location: Imperial Sand Dunes, Glamis CA

This was such a fun engagement session for me. My heart beats desert. I don’t know what it is about it but I’m so drawn in to the desert landscape. When Sana reached out to me and mentioned wanting to make their trip in California and engagement session EPIC, we brainstormed and settled on the Imperial Sand Dunes because it really is pretty epic.

About 3 hours out from both myself and the couple, we planned to meet at the dunes. For any photographer or couple planning a trip out there it’s good to know there is plenty of cell service! That’s always my greatest fear — not being able to get a hold of each other and not being able to find each other. But it was no problem communicating via text and even phone call to make sure we ended up at the same spot.
I’ve been to the dunes twice now for shoots and both times I’ve parked at the Osborne Overlook and it has easy access to the dunes. You pretty much park and walk right up.

There was a park ranger that kept driving around but he didn’t seem to mind us (or the other photographers that were there as well!) We didn’t have to pay the entry fee and it seemed to be just fine. The only thing about being at the dunes over Christmas break was there were a TON of people out there. We were dodging the dune buggies left and right. So be careful out there!

When all is said and done, every photo captured was worth the drive, worth braving the blustering winds, the maneuvering around the riders (even though they may not have been as happy about us being there to maneuver around) and I couldn’t have envisioned a more perfect way to end the 2018 wedding and couple season. Congratulations to Sana and Tony!