From Missouri to the California Redwoods | Stephen & Devon’s Avenue of the Giants and Wedding Rock Elopement

Some places deserve a little more time. And when you’re traveling from Missouri to the Northern California coast, you shouldn’t have to choose between wedding portraits beneath the redwoods and an evening overlooking the ocean.

Stephen and Devon’s elopement portraits brought together two of my favorite places: Avenue of the Giants and Wedding Rock in Trinidad. I planned our time around the light at each location, beginning among the towering trees and ending along the coast.

This is one of my favorite experiences to photograph—a three-hour session that gives us room for both landscapes, with each part of the day thoughtfully timed.

A Love Story That Started With a Puppy

Before there were wedding portraits in California, there was a chance encounter while shopping—and a blue merle French bulldog named Stitch.

Stephen had his puppy with him when Devon first noticed them. They didn’t speak that day, but several months later, Stephen appeared in her suggested friends on Facebook. She recognized Stitch and added him. Stephen sent a message saying she looked familiar, and they went on their first date that very night.

They became inseparable quickly. Two weeks into dating, they got matching tattoos, and Devon said she would have married him then.

When she described their relationship to me, she spoke about the way Stephen loves both her and her children, and how he became everything she had hoped for, along with things she hadn’t realized she needed.

Of everything she shared, these words stayed with me:

“He is my home.”

Stephen proposed at their favorite place, Top of the Rock in Branson. Their story eventually brought them from Missouri to another remarkable setting, this time among the California redwoods and along the Pacific coast.

Beginning at Avenue of the Giants

There is something about wedding clothes beneath the redwoods that I will always love. The scale of the trees, the layers of green, and the light filtering through the forest give these portraits such a romantic, cinematic feeling.

At Avenue of the Giants, I plan our time for the light within the grove. The forest has its own rhythm, and the best light here happens earlier than the last light along the coast.

That timing is a big part of what makes this experience special. We have time to explore, create photographs in different settings, and let moments unfold without constantly moving toward the next stop.

For Stephen and Devon, this was the first chapter of a gallery that would carry them from the forest to the ocean.

Ending at Wedding Rock

From Avenue of the Giants, we made our way north to Wedding Rock in Trinidad for the coastal portion of their portraits.

I love how much the feeling changes between these two locations. The redwoods surround you with towering trees and soft forest light. At Wedding Rock, the landscape opens to ocean views, rugged coastline, and an expansive sky.

Together, they create a beautiful range of photographs while keeping the story centered on the same two people. You can have the fairytale feeling of the redwoods and the romance of the Northern California coast in one experience.

Stephen and Devon came from Missouri with a love story that was already entirely their own. Avenue of the Giants and Wedding Rock gave us two beautiful places to photograph this chapter.

If you’re dreaming of wedding portraits in both the redwoods and along the ocean, ask me about my three-hour Avenue of the Giants and Wedding Rock experience. I’ll help plan the timing so we can photograph you in the best light at both of my favorite locations.