“Jesse and I love each the most when we are in the mountains.” 

Gina and Jesse, fellow climbers and adventurous souls, are the kind of people you never get tired of. Jesse fell in love with Gina when she was giving him a facial at his salon (because, truly, facials are love). They grew their love snowboarding, climbing, hiking, and cruising down the California coast on electric bikes. He proposed in Aspen in Independence Pass, where they’re planning to have their wedding. They’re their best selves for each other when they’re in the mountains, so it was important to make the mountains central to telling their love story.

We decided on one of my favorite climbing spots in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for their engagement session. The Alabama Hills in Lone Pine are situated in between Los Angeles and Yosemite on California’s iconic I-395. Also situated close to Mammoth Lakes, It’s part of my favorite area in California with so much in the surrounding lands–– climbing routes for all levels, BLM (Bureau Land Management) camping, skiing in Mammoth, hot springs. Lone Pine sits at the base of Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the United States, the crown jewel of the Sierra Nevada. One of the great things about the Alabama Hills and many other parts of the Sierra Nevada are the massive amounts of accessible and free camping. More on that in a blog post to come!

Gina and Jesse are also the textbook definition of baddies, and it shines through the photos of them adventuring and climbing around the Alabama Hills. My favorite set of images from their engagement session are the ones of them zipping through the dirt roads on their motorcycle. One of the images was featured on Junebug’s Top 50 Engagement Photos of the Year, which I’m pretty dang proud of. I didn’t know how much I needed motorcycle engagement photos in my life, but now they’re my favorite and I can’t wait for more.