Home Again

About a ten minute drive from my parents’ home in Westlake Village, California, is the breathtaking Wildwood Regional Park. I only became acquainted with the place three years ago while on a hike with a dear friend but it certainly left a mark. I’ve since made it a point to hike through some portion of the 1,700 acre park during each trip back home. While nestled in a fairly developed area, stepping onto its dusty trails transports you to a completely different world, one where nature and wildlife still reign supreme. 

When it came time to decide a location for our engagement photos with the incredible California-based photographer, Kurt Boomer, there was no question about it. On June 24, 2012, sleep deprived, slightly hungover and still elated from our engagement party the day before, we hiked a ways into Wildwood Regional Park, into the dry and prickly wheat fields, up to one of my favorite peaks overlooking the grand south entrance (glistening from sweat, fancy clothes and all) and just as the sun was setting on one of the most memorable weekends of my life, we made our way back onto the dirt roads and home again–but not before spotting a white owl honing in on its prey, a couple deers in the distance and a coyote only a few feet away.

Kurt took nearly 200 gorgeous photographs (all shot on various forms of film) that perfectly captured this milestone in our lives. Narrowing down my favorites was no easy task but here are ones that really make me swoon, or perhaps that just Travis’s doing.