Adventure Consultant
Photographer
Kira
The poet of Resonance & Devotion
“When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms."—Mary Oliver
Artistic origin story
The Artist’s Eye
I spent my later college years working as a "connective empath" wedding photographer for couples in chaotic ballrooms, wiping away tears of stress. Now, I use that same empathy to guide couples away from the noise and back to the grounding granite. I am not here to simply direct a scene; I am here to guide you to the right place and right time, and then witness your devotion as it unfolds.
The high school darkroom was my first true indoor sanctuary. In that red-lit sensory deprivation tank, I fell in love with the tactile nature of film and the way light could be painted onto paper. I learned early on that if you place a human subject within a vast, wild landscape, people lean in. They feel the resonance of belonging to this world. My interests in the natural world merged with my desire to connect people in a profound—possibly even sacred—kind of way.
I grew up in the timber, on the edge of the Stanislaus National Forest and the digital age. My childhood was a 1990s blur of mountain bikes, backpacks, red dirt, and a Kodak 110 film camera. I was a quiet kid—some might say on the spectrum—who found a language in nature. I tracked deer trails, napped by creeks, and obsessed over the geometry of spiderwebs, flowers, and ferns. Four distinct seasons offered dynamic changing experiences outdoors and an escape from a chaotic homelife.
The early days
The Gravity of the Current
I’d often spend a week bedridden afterward, knees on ice, but with zero regrets. Recovery involved maps and tea in bed. His loving patience carried my spirit. My stubborn nature forged a path of healing as I sought treatment for a complex illness.
There was a particular rawness of being small, vulnerable, and deeply in love in and with the wild, even when it hurt. The kind of trust needed to go it “alone together” surpassed traditional relationship expectations.
It was under a canopy of Dogwood blossoms. Blue eyes staring back at mine. A snaggle-tooth smile of an old soul. I saw a familiar face from my college days sitting in the shade, guitar in hand, singing songs carved from years on the trail. That day, I traded phone numbers with Forrest and felt a shift in my heart. I went home vibrating with joy for the first time in years.
At that time, my body had become a stranger. Navigating untreated Lyme disease meant enduring extreme fatigue, mental collapse, and joint pain. Yet, when Forrest proposed "adventure dates" in the backcountry rather than a restaurant downtown, I chose the trail. These weren't casual outings; they were next-level sufferfests.
This confidence in each other didn't come from promises; it was earned through lived experience—the rain, the scenery, and the visceral feeling of being small in a massive country against fiery jagged horizons, together.
Our adventure Love Language
From Ashes to Adventure
I didn't know it at the time, but I was dealing with auto-immune disorders. Conditions were far from ideal. But watching him make every step count, enduring low calories and weather for a single frame of alpenglow magic was my inspiration; he reminded me that a camera isn't just a tool, but a meditation on being "out there." I continued to build my confidence as an adventurer with chronic illness on solo trips and our shared trips.
born of a partnership of complementary talents to help others deepen and celebrate their relationship in nature
Our engagement culminated in spending thirty days on a raft in the Grand Canyon together. Upon our return, we merged our lives into one household, and I began to see the "Adventure Elopement" not as an outdoorsy trend, but as a sanctuary for real love. Having witnessed the waste and debt of the traditional wedding industry through my lens, I wanted to offer a sanctuary instead. Minimalist weddings with maximalist experiences. Rooted in honest presence rather than large scale event production.
After healing from Lyme, a wildfire claimed everything—my cameras, my archive, my personal history. I retreated into back-to-back adventures with Forrest who had landscape photo missions in the high country. I wanted more time on the trail together, to see if our lives would truly intertwine, so we took a tough two-week backpacking trip into the deeper reaches of southern Yosemite.
Navigating these peaks and the valleys of my health journey and the contours of this land taught me that devotion isn't a sentiment—it’s the grit of the miles traveled together.
Experience Design | Vendor Coordinator | Empathic Soul
life/adventure partners
photo + video team
Natural Unions is the integration of our shared lore. I bring the editorial eye—the fastidious observer who catches the shift in light on a lichen-covered boulder or the quivering intake of breath before a vow. Forrest brings the documentary scope and the technical care of a lead guide who knows how to navigate the wild variables in search of the perfect moment. We don't just document a day; we curate a full experience. We handle the logistics, the permits, and the safety kits so you can stay unhurried and present.
How we can help you
Pilgrimage over Pageantry
Frontcountry Navigator | Professional Officiant | Artistic Director
