Meet Armando — Elopement Photographer & Planner
I'm Armando
I document adventure elopements on photo and video, on location, exactly as they happened — with 35mm film available as an add-on.
HOW I GOT HERE
I didn’t plan to shoot elopements. COVID changed that.
When the big weddings stopped, something else started. Couples were stripping everything back — no venue, no crowd, no production. Just the two of them and a place that meant something. I started documenting those days and something shifted in the work.
The photos were different. Not because the locations were better — though they were. Because without all the noise, something real came through. Their personalities showed up in the images in a way they never had before. The way she laughs when she’s actually happy, not when she’s performing happy. The way he looks at her when no one’s directing him to.
That’s what I’d been trying to find in weddings for years. It was here the whole time. I just had to get outside to find it.
THE DIFFERENCE
Here’s what I do that most elopement photographers don’t.
I shoot hybrid — Photo + Video, and 35mm film as an add-on — as one complete record of your day. Not because it’s a selling point. Because each one catches something the others can’t. Film slows everything down. Digital catches what film misses. Video holds the sounds and the pauses that never make it into a still.
I also help you plan the day around the photos — the location, the light, the timeline, the vendors — so nothing on the day pulls you out of it. Permit filing is there too if you'd rather not touch the paperwork.
The reason is simple. You can’t be fully present if you’re worried about what comes next. My job is to remove everything standing between you and actually being in your day.
The day isn't rushed. It's calm, relaxed, and it unfolds naturally.
I love getting to these beautiful places at sunrise or sunset and capturing a couple's story — why a location means so much to them, and what it looks like when two people slow all the way down and just be together.
When I’m not working, I’m usually outside.
OFF THE CLOCK
My wife and I spend a lot of time hiking around Lake Tahoe — the kind of trails most people don’t bother with because there’s no Instagram sign at the trailhead. We travel to national parks whenever we can, partly for the landscapes and partly because we’ve developed an embarrassingly specific obsession with finding the best Mexican mocha in every park town we pass through.
We love good wine. We find wineries the way other people find restaurants — slowly, on purpose, with no real agenda.
I tell couples this not to fill space, but because it explains something about how I work. I’m not in a hurry. I like being in places that make you go quiet. I notice things when I slow down. That’s exactly what I bring to every elopement I document.
LET’S START PLANNING
Ready for a day that feels
like the two of you?
I work with a small number of couples each year. Tell me a bit about your day and how you feel about the camera, and I'll reply within 24 hours.
"Neither of us are naturally comfortable in front of a camera, but Armando made it feel so easy. Nothing felt forced or awkward, and somehow he's managed to capture us exactly as we are."
★★★★★ Olivia + Brad