From Arizona to Portugal
8 MIN READ
Hi, I’m Glad You’re Here!
If you're reading this, you’re probably either a future client trying to get to know me a little better, or you may just be wondering what in the world happened to Red Rock Reverie Photography. Either way, welcome! This is the first post on this new little corner of the internet, and I wanted it to be the real story, not a polished announcement, but the full story of how we got here.
And just to be clear up front, this isn't a forever goodbye to the U.S. We're keeping our citizenship, our Arizona ties, and we'll be going back and forth. This is more like a new chapter running alongside the old one, not replacing it.
Why "Luz Maré Photography"
As you may have seen, my previous business name was Red Rock Reverie Photography. The name made perfect sense at the time. I was based in Arizona, and the red rocks of Sedona were a huge part of what first made me fall in love with photography. Sedona has a way of doing that to people, and for me, it turned into a whole career.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED - SEDONA, ARIZONA
But when my mother, my husband, and I decided on Portugal, I knew the name needed to change, too. Luz Maré means light and sea, and once I landed on it, it just felt right. The sun and the ocean were two of the biggest reasons I fell in love with Portugal in the first place. The way the light moves here, bouncing off white buildings and reflecting across the water, I don’t think I will ever get used to it. Beyond that, Portugal offered us something we'd been craving for a while, a slower pace, a real sense of safety, and small towns where people actually know their neighbors and look out for each other. That mindset shift is just as much a part of this rebrand as the new name is.
What Hasn’t Changed
Despite all of these changes, the actual photography part hasn’t changed much at all! I'm still the same photographer who wants to capture those small, in-between, intimate moments, the whispered joke, the giggle into each other's shoulder, the brief nose touch right before a kiss. That's always been my favorite part of photography, and that's not going anywhere just because the scenery has.
My approach is still rooted in cinematic, story-driven, slightly moody imagery that feels like a moment rather than a pose. I love lightly directed, documentary-style sessions, where I'll give you a prompt or a starting point and then just let you be together, camera rolling, while the real moments happen on their own. Those unscripted seconds are almost always my favorite.
So whether you’re picturing a session in the Algarve, Arizona, or anywhere in between, what you’ll get from me is the same: thoughtful and unhurried photography that actually feels like you.
THE KIND OF MOMENT I NEVER GET TIRED OF CAPTURING
The Decision to Move
This wasn't a spontaneous decision. The visa process alone took about a year from start to finish. We submitted paperwork, waited for what felt like an eternity, and finally, the visas arrived on our doorstep.
That delivery started the real countdown. I had been working in HR for about seven years, the last three and a half with a company I genuinely loved. The people, the work, all of it. Putting in my resignation was one of the hardest things I've done, not because I doubted the decision, but because I was leaving something good for something unknown. Bittersweet doesn't quite cover it.
From there, everything moved fast. We sold our cars, packed up an entire house worth of belongings we'd built up over the years together, and started preparing our dogs for international travel. If you've never had to research "airline-compliant kennels," consider yourself lucky.
While our move to the Algarve has been the biggest life change yet, we've made the decision to keep our U.S. citizenship and maintain our Arizona address, so we'll be traveling back and forth between the two. We aren’t running away from Arizona. We genuinely loved our life there, and we still do. But over time, we found ourselves increasingly heartbroken by the hatred, violence, and political division that seemed to consume so much of everyday life. Watching war, human suffering, and constant outrage become such a constant in everyday life took a real emotional toll on us. We wanted to build a life that felt more hopeful and more grounded, without feeling constantly overwhelmed by everything happening around us. We knew we couldn’t change the world overnight, but we could choose the environment we wanted to build our life in.
To my Arizona friends and clients, thank you for sticking with me through this! I'll absolutely be posting whenever I have availability back in Arizona, and I can't wait to share that part of the journey with you, too.
The Drive, the Dogs, and a Lot of Unexpected Delays
Now here’s where the story starts to get chaotic.
Because we live in Arizona, a direct flight to Portugal would have been about sixteen hours, which is a long time to ask three dogs who had never flown before to spend in cargo. So instead, we decided to drive from Phoenix to Boston and depart from there instead, cutting the flight down to about six and a half hours.
That drive alone was three days of travel, around sixteen hours a day once you factor in stops. Twenty-seven bags, three humans, three dogs, and absolutely zero regrets. (Okay, maybe a few regrets about the number of bags we were hauling with us)
Once we got to Boston, we were waiting on one final piece of paperwork, our dogs' official health certificates. Portugal requires these to be issued on paper by the USDA within ten business days of travel, which means there's a real mailing step involved, not just an email. We arrived in Boston on a Monday, expecting the certificates to arrive on Tuesday morning before our flight. They didn't. We made the call to push our flight back a full week and got started on rebooking everything for the next 7 days.
That extra week had its own challenges. On the morning of our original flight date, I came down with a mystery illness I’m sure I picked up along the 13 states in 3 days. I ended up sleeping for almost five days straight! That same morning, our dog Millie woke up with an ear infection bad enough that we had to take her straight to the vet. In hindsight, it almost felt like everything was telling us we weren't supposed to leave that day after all. The health certificates finally arrived that Thursday, restoring our faith in the process, and the following Tuesday, we successfully boarded our flight to Portugal.
Settling In
Landing in Portugal didn't mean the hiccups were over. Our house had a few surprises waiting for us: a broken water heater, AC units that weren't working in the middle of a 90 degree stretch (with three dogs to keep cool, which meant a lot of frozen water bottles and damp towels), some and some electrical issues downstairs. One by one, we've worked through all of it, and a few weeks in, things are finally feeling like home. There was nothing a few beach trips, Super Bocks, or purple Jacaranda trees couldn’t fix!
Why the Algarve
Portugal was the bigger decision, but the Algarve specifically is where it clicked. Coming from the Phoenix valley, we were used to warm weather, and the Algarve gave us that same sunny, warm climate, but paired with a coastline and small-town feel that Arizona just doesn't have. Places like Silves felt like exactly what we were looking for. Not a vacation bubble, but small towns where life moves a little slower, and people actually know each other, while still being close enough to the coast and to visitors.
The variety of landscapes here, from the dramatic cliffs, quiet beaches, old town streets, orange groves, and countryside that goes on forever are keeping me creative. For the kind of cinematic, story-driven photography I want to keep building as an Algarve wedding, couples, and family photographer, this place feels like a genuinely new source of inspiration, and I can already tell it's going to shape where my work goes next.
Building a Business from Scratch (again)
While all of that moving chaos was happening, there was a second, quieter project running in the background: rebuilding my business from the ground up. I'd been thinking through and planning the rebrand for months before the move, the name, the look, the direction I wanted to take things, but once I gave my notice at my job, it was suddenly crunch time to actually bring all of it to life.
After clocking out from writing HR SOPs and running trainings all day, I'd clock into the rebrand: finalizing the name Luz Maré Photography, building out a new color scheme and font pairings, and redesigning my entire website by myself with zero web design experience. It was a lot of late nights teaching myself things I'd never had to think about before, all while the move itself was happening in real time around me.
I'm also still getting to know this area as a photographer, and honestly, that's one of the most exciting parts! I don't have a list of go-to hidden gem locations here yet, as I had in Arizona, but I'm finding them as I go, and it’s been magical every time. Just the other day, I stumbled across this gorgeous little cafe in Silves called Cafe da Rosa, and I immediately started picturing a session there. That's the kind of thing I can't wait to share more of! Little local spots I come across out in the wild that would be so beautiful for a session (or even just a visit!), whether you live nearby or you're just passing through on a trip to the Algarve.
CAFE DA ROSA PASTRIES
What’s Next for This Blog
A year ago, this entire move existed only as a spreadsheet, a stack of visa paperwork, and a mood board full of "someday." Honestly, it's hard to believe we're actually here now, and I'm so grateful for everyone who has supported me along the way, whether that's been from the very beginning or you're just finding me now. Right now I'm sitting on my patio in Portugal writing this post, watching kids play in the courtyard below while families share dinner, laundry drying on lines strung between balconies down the street, and it's hit me that this isn't a someday anymore, it's just my life now. I don't know exactly where this next chapter leads, but I can't wait to bring you along with me!
If you're planning a trip to the Algarve, whether it's a wedding, a family vacation, or just a few days tacked onto a bigger adventure, I'd genuinely love to be part of your story while you're here. Take a look at my portfolio, learn more about me, or check out my pricing to start the conversation.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for being here at the very beginning of this journey. I have a feeling this is going to be my favorite chapter yet!
WRITTEN BY: Meghan - The Photographer behind Luz Maré Photography
