Experience

Kassandra Thomsen Big Sur Elopement photographer standing on a trail in a dense forest of tall trees, looking up at the canopy ar Henery Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Time is precious…

I have always felt most like time is standing still when I am in nature.

And the most myself and grounded and inspired outside. Barefoot on a trail, salt air in my hair, watching the light change over the water. That relationship with the natural world isn't separate from how I work, it's the foundation of it. The same way I move through a landscape, quietly, curiously, without forcing anything, is exactly how I move through your session or wedding day.

I'm not here to impose a vision on you or the environment around us.

I'm here to pay attention.

To read the light, read the moment, read you and respond to what's actually happening rather than what I planned or hoped in my head. Nature has taught me that the most extraordinary things happen when you stop trying to control everything and just show up present and ready.

That's the energy I bring to every elopement, every portrait session, every wedding day. We will move slowly when the moment calls for it and chase the light when it doesn't. We will let the landscape be part of your story rather than just a backdrop for it.

I will treat you the way I treat the places I love most, with patience, with care, and with genuine reverence for something real and alive happening right in front of me.

I believe every single love story deserves to be told in that light, every couple, every identity, every configuration of family and forever.

Inclusivity isn't a checkbox for me, it's personal. I have a trans brother who I love fiercely, and his life has shaped the way I show up for every single client who walks, or hikes, or elopes, into my world.

My camera is a safe place.

Whether you are two brides, two grooms, nonbinary, transgender, polyamorous, different races, spiritual backgrounds, body types or abilities or anything beautifully in between, you will never have to shrink yourselves or wonder if you are welcome here.

You are not just tolerated, you are celebrated, fully and without asterisk, in every frame.


I want our time together to enhance the magic of the moments we are creating together.

I look at it as the platonic threesome you never knew you wanted!

My goal is to leave you feeling blissful, encouraged, stress-free and with some incredible images that help you relive those feelings every time you look at them. I am drawn to natural light and candid moments, however I will guide you and direct where needed, bring my flashes and lighting where warranted.

If you fear awkwardness in front of the camera? Guess what, same!!! I am the worst, so I know exactly how it feels and I am pretty f-ing great at getting you out of your head and into the moment with me.

I tend to focus more on activities and prompts, telling stories, and jokes rather than all traditional posing, lots of movement and us chatting it up and exploring so we can really have a fun and more importantly authentic experience where you forget we are even having a your photos taken.

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My approach to wedding photography is pretty similar.

On your wedding day I want you to look over and feel like your friend Kassandra showed up, camera in hand, genuinely happy to be there.

Not a vendor checking boxes,

not someone you have to perform for.

Someone who already knows you, already cares how the day goes, and is absolutely going to cry a little during your vows.

By the time most of my couples get to their wedding day we have already talked, laughed, explored a location together and built something real, and that comfort is everything. It's what lets me disappear into the background and just watch. And what happens when people forget they are being photographed is where the magic lives.

Your mom throwing her head back laughing at something only she thinks is that funny. Your brother's terrible joke landing at exactly the wrong moment. Your heels abandoned in the grass somewhere near the dance floor because nothing was stopping you from getting out there. The flower girl who has completely lost interest in the whole proceedings. The look between you two during dinner when you think nobody is watching. If any of this sounds like your kind of day and your kind of person, I would genuinely love to be there for it.

Come say hi.

Kassandra Thomsen Yosemite Elopement Photographer, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, orange sleeveless top, and blue denim, holding a camera in a natural outdoor setting with mountains, trees, and a blue sky in the background at Tuolumne Meadows.
Yosemite Wedding Photographer Kassandra Thomsen Photography in a wide-brimmed hat, orange top, standing in a grassy field with mountains and a large pine tree in the background at Tuolumne Meadows holding a camera and making a peace sign.
Kassandra Thomsen Photography in Yosemite for Yosemite Wedding Photography
Kassandra Thomsen Santa Cruz Wedding Photographer standing outdoors in a field with tall grass, holding a DSLR camera up to her eye, smiling, with a backpack on her back, during sunset or dusk.
Big Sur Proposal Photographer taking a photo of a couple on a beach with green hills in the background. The woman is  holding a camera, with another camera hanging from her shoulder. The are on the cliffs of Garrapata in Big Sur, Ca
Big Sur Proposal Photographer taking a photo of a couple on a beach with green hills in the background. The woman is  holding a camera, with another camera hanging from her shoulder. The are on the cliffs of Garrapata in Big Sur, Ca

Images on this page courtesy of my talented friends Jelau Photography, Savannah Hayes, Sand and Stone Media and my life partner Robert Csapo.