Anh and her fiance Duy traveled all the way from Dallas, Texas to Melbourne, Australia for a very personal and meaningful purpose. Anh wrote to me a while back to see if I'd be interested in documenting the celebratory part of their trip with a unique and picturesque set of engagement images at a location of my choosing. First of all, what a perfect opportunity to go on an adventure with some awesome people! I was obviously stoked to oblige... and I can't thank them enough for giving me total creative freedom and for their easy-going attitude the entire trip. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Before they arrived, we got to know each other a little through email, and I was floored by what Anh told me was the main purpose for their visit...to reconnect with her biological father after years of distant and complicated separation. So yeah, this tugged the heart strings a bit. Her fiance Duy, gallantly accompanied her for moral support... What a guy?! I can't imagine the emotional weight that this trip held for these guys and their families. Amazing!

When we finally met in Melbourne, Anh admitted that after initially enquiring with numerous photographers about their destination engagement shoot, apparently I was the only one who replied with a story and a sincere emotional reaction to her plans. This baffled me. I thought most wedding photographers these days would have responded with more than just a price-list. The chance to tell this kind of story doesn't pop up everyday, and I hope that couples and photographers alike dig a little deeper when planning these types of things, trust me, it'll make the whole experience and end result far more comfortable, beautiful and memorable.

Anyway, on our long drive down the great ocean road, I sat quietly in the driver's seat simply stunned by the complex details behind Anh's story and family dynamic... I think what I was most shocked by, was her overwhelmingly positive attitude when describing the geographical, physical and cultural challenges her family faced as Vietnamese refugees. I learned a lot on that drive.

All that aside, once we found the perfect spot and started shooting, Anh and Duy stayed totally focused on one another, which is hard to do in a location so raw and beautiful in itself. The light kept getting better and better the more we shot and the further we ventured... In the end it was an amazing and humbling experience and I'm honored to have met such a positive and awesome pair of humans, and help them celebrate and remember their engagement and time down under. I know I'll never forget it either.