unicorns and wildfires | tallulah gorge / north georgia mountain photography

[ Recommended listening: The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room by Flight of the Conchords ]

The insanity of 2016 has finally passed. Now that I have a little bit of distance on that huge year and all it brought around, I'm feeling much better and ready to refocus on blogging and the behind-the-scenes stuff that I've been putting off. Whew.

I'm super excited to share this session from fall of 2016. 

These two lovebirds have come to be some of my very favorite humans. Seriously.

You know those couples who are super fun to hang around and don't take things very seriously, but also are obviously completely devoted to each other and almost annoyingly perfect and in love? They are kind of like unicorns because they are so rare. But these two are totally that. Unicorns, I tell you.

We had big, lofty goals to shoot at Tallulah Gorge in the north Georgia mountains. Weeks of planning went into the session. We both wanted something breathtaking and wonderful. We were excited to see the gorge and the rapids and all the fall colors. 

But, in typical 2016 fashion, some crazy stuff was going on.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, that area was experiencing some pretty crazy wildfires. After we'd already arrived we realized just how bad it was. There was smoke everywhere, hanging in the air, creating a haze, making it hard to breathe. 

We shot around for a little while but decided to stop earlier than anticipated and reconvene at a later time/place.

(I have to say, that was a completely eye-opening experience for me. I have lived in this area for a long time and never heard of any wildfires around us. The following day I learned another had started and more were spreading. This was before the huge one in TN and just before the big outbreak in north Georgia. Consider me educated now.) 

After that plot twist, we were able to meet up for the second half of the session, this time in a lower-profile location.

I really love finding new and exciting places to shoot, but honestly, I really love the simplicity of a plain location that allows me to just focus on the humans in front of me--their connections, the history between them, the little details they bring out in each other. (And it certainly doesn't hurt when they are unicorns.)

* Note: Wildfires were kind of everywhere at the end of last year due to our insane drought (and other factors--including arson). We even had a small one here in Gwinnett. Tremendous love and thanks to the amazing firefighters who spent so much time and energy keeping us all safe. You all are amazing. [One of my favorite local companies is currently selling this amazing sticker and donating all proceeds to the Rabun County Fire Department!]