Rajee & Ashish || Monument Valley || Elopement

The beauty of adversities!

Adversities are hard, they make it so hard to accomplish things, but that is the beauty of it!

The harder you try, the better it gets. More than anything else, they help us create a beautiful story of success. One such beautiful story came with the elopement shoot of Rajee and Ashish.

To capture their togetherness and their soulful chemistry, I took my first journey to the US. Far away, across miles, they were about to compose a new chapter of their love and it was my honour to fly so far and portray their story in stills. I boarded the Southwest airways and reached Utah Salt Lake City all excited and pumped up.

The journey of adversities started here.

The deadline was strict and these hardworking individuals were tight on schedule for their shoot. We booked an Airbnb and decided to explore the Utah University, where it all started.

On our way to relive their moments, we met with a catastrophic accident. The car we rented from Hertz was all smashed from the front, but thank the holy Lord, nothing happened to the three of us. We had to go back to the airport and get a replacement for the car. The wisdom of getting a full insurance, pre-hand helped us elope from any accidental charges or additional fine.

Although we had a long and tiring day, we still managed to shoot and relive a little of Rajee & Ashish’s love story in the Utah University premises. Where they first met each other, they fell in love, they dissolved into each other and decided to be each other’s happily-ever-after.

Then it struck us, this moment we were supposed to be at the shoot location-the  Monument valley, which was somewhere 500 miles away. And we were still in Utah, waiting to get another car. We rushed back to the airport to get the replacement vehicle but we had already lost too much time.

What comes next has been an impeccable adventure for me so far in my life. Remember the Hangover movies? Now, relate!

We drove 500 odd miles, “non-stop”. The bride and groom-to-be, dressed up for the shoot in the car itself while one of us kept driving like this is the last day of our life, this is it.

And we finally made it.

Monument Valley was here and the sun was setting down. We just had 1 hour in hand to portray their bond, their endearment. And I didn’t have enough time to spare as the ample light for the perfect shoot was fading away.

The vitality this adversity gave me did the work. Exact one hour and the rest is in the pictures! This was nothing less than an achievement for me. Thank you so much you two wonderful souls- Rajee and Ashish, for this experience, this opportunity and the thunder!

This shoot and that sunset will forever occupy a special space in my heart, my mind and my workspace! All the best to you two, for an epic journey and the outstanding energy you are going to share ahead.

Until next time…!