Tag Archives: engagement

kari & nick | palo alto engagement session

I am one lucky photographer to get to work with couples as lovely as Kari and Nick in locations as beautiful as the foothills of California, and this engagement session is a testament to that very luck. Kari and Nick encountered some good luck of their own thanks to a chance introduction through an internet dating site, and I loved that they wanted to start their engagement session off in a cafe in front of their computers in honor of how they met. We had so much fun that afternoon, visiting some of Kari and Nick’s favorite places, including their local park and a place where they love to go hiking near the Stanford campus. Between the amazing views, the personal props, the curious cows, and the love between these two, our afternoon could not have gone any better, (especially since the cows actually listened to me when I told them, or perhaps yelled at them to stop coming so close to us.) My luck will no doubt continue when I get to photograph their wedding day up at the beautiful Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley in just a few short weeks, and I couldn’t be more excited for it!

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rea & erick | napa engagement session at paraduxx

I love the adventure and inspiration of shooting at a new location, and Rea and Erick could not have chosen a more beautiful and personal location than the Napa winery called Paraduxx where they’re both wine club members. This was my first chance to meet these two and the second that I saw them arrive with their great smiles, their adorable dog named Sammy, and in outfits that I wanted to steal for myself and my husband, I knew that it was going to be a great shoot. We were so lucky to have to the whole place to ourselves for most of the afternoon, surrounded only by a sense of serenity and all of those gorgeous view. Rea and Erick are so easy to be be around, and so sweet too (when we had finished the shoot they handed me a gift bag filled with a bottle of Paraduxx wine. That was so thoughtful and unnecessarily generous of them…I felt like I was the one who should be giving them a thank you gift!) Of course now I’m even more excited for their Clos La Chance winery wedding later in the fall. I only wish they could bring Sammy that day too!

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jackie & matt | santa cruz engagement session

Jackie and Matt live in Memphis, but are getting married at the Hollins House at the Pasatiempo Golf Club next year so they wanted their engagement photos to show the coastal beauty of the area. I’m happy to report that California co-operated perfectly that day with its warm weather and amazing golden light. All we needed was one camera, two people in love and 3 locations with three outfit changes (minus two pairs of shoes that were accidentally forgotten, but thankfully bare feet look best at the beach and my shoes looked great with Jackie’s last look.) This was one of those days that made me feel so thankful to live in such a beautiful town, and thankful that I chose a job that often doesn’t feel like work. Jackie and Matt, I had a blast with you both and I can’t wait to document your big day next year!

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lara & anthony | engagement session | santa cruz

I think this has to be my new favorite engagement session…and that would explain why I’ve included just about every single photo from that session into this post. This was one of those fortuitous and inspiring days and I loved the company I was able to spend it with. Things didn’t seem so promising at the start though, as I had arrived early to find a huge fog bank moving towards our location. I was sure that within minutes the blue skies would turn grey and poor Lara would freeze in her summer dress, but thankfully we were able to start sooner than planned and the fog stayed at the perfect distance and diffused the light in the most amazing way and only started to sweep in just as we were packing up.

I’m convinced that there is no better way to start an engagement session than with a tandem bike. I loved all of the props that Lara and Anthony brought to the day, like their vintage blanket and custom banner, but my favorite one was the old frame that Lara randomly found on the ground when we were shooting near some hay bails. It was such a perfect fit for their vintage-inspired style that they’re planning on using it at their wedding too. Double score. Props can’t make a picture though, but personalities can, and Lara’s and Anthony’s definitely did. They both showed their sweetness, their humor and their love…and they could go from sultry to goofy in two seconds flat. I blame those two personalities and their photogenic ways for making it so hard to choose favorites and to keep my blog post brief.

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shannon & richard | palo alto engagement session

I’m in love with the location that Shannon and Rich chose for their engagement session, as it shows Northern California in all it’s sun-drenched, summer glory. Shannon grew up near Stanford, so she knew all the right back roads to take to avoid a long hike and the big crowds, so we ended up finding some beautiful spots and feeling like we had the whole place to ourselves. We had such a great afternoon together as we wandered around the eucalyptus trees and open fields with the hand-painted initials and bottle of champagne that they brought along to make the day extra fun. We were all cracking up when the bottle exploded before any of us were ready and ended up all over the two of them while my camera stayed nice and dry. Shannon and Rich have such a sweet connection and I’m really looking forward to documenting their big day at the Thomas Fogarty Winery later in the year.

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melissa & casey | engagement session | at&t ballpark

What a memorable experience to have all of AT&T park to ourselves for this engagement session. I had already spent one beautiful afternoon photographing Melissa and Casey in San Francisco for their engagement photos, but that session was for Melissa, and this session was definitely for Casey! Casey has been a huge Giants fan forever, and being the clever man that he is, he managed to convert Melissa into a diehard fan too. His brilliant technique was promising Melissa that if the Giants won the World Series he would propose…so of course Melissa immediately began paying close attention to each and every game and was cheering along beside him when they won that final game. Since the Giants have played such an big part of their love story, (they even live within walking distance to the stadium) I can’t think of a better engagement session location for these two.

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christy & jeff | san francisco engagement session

This was one of those days that made me feel so lucky to live near a city as vibrant, diverse and picturesque as San Francisco. I loved every single location that Christy and Jeff choose for their engagement session, as each one showed a unique and beautiful part of the city. We started in the Mission district where Jeff knew about an awesome alley full of graffiti, then headed out to the Sunset area where we discovered a field of wildflowers and Cypress trees overlooking the ocean, (these have to be my favorite photos of the day) then to Alamo Square Park for the famous painted ladies, and we ended up at Baker Beach for sunset. Even though I loved the color images from the beach, there is something about a black and white image that makes you look more at the emotion within the image than just at the view, and I loved both seeing and documenting the honest and playful love between these two. We had so much fun driving all over San Francisco together and now I can’t wait to photograph their Stanford/Menlo Circus Club wedding in a few weeks!

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melissa & casey | san francisco engagement photos

This day was simply meant to be….we had been forced to re-schedule this engagement session a few times due to bad weather, but it was well worth the wait to get a perfect city day like this one, a day that shows San Francisco in all it’s glory. We started in Potrero Hill where we found a beautiful little community garden and got some great city views. We also visit Pier 7 and then headed over to Baker Beach for some classic Golden Gate views. I love that we basically had the whole beach to ourselves to enjoy the golden hour, almost as much as I love to photograph couples like this who so clearly enjoy each other’s company, who are so comfortable together, and who are so obviously in love. I’m already looking forward to part two of their engagement session, where we’ll have all of AT&T ball park to ourselves, and to their wedding later in the year at Clos La Chance winery.

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lisa & max | engagement | santa cruz photographer

A good friend of mine used to work with fashion designers Lisa and Max when they all worked together at O’Neill down in LA, and when she heard that these two were planning on getting married in Santa Cruz she sent them my way. The moment I met Lisa and Max I knew that I had to photograph their wedding, as they seemed so down to earth and obviously in love, they had amazing taste in music and fashion and their garden wedding sounded like it was going to be both beautiful and a whole lot of fun. We planned to do their engagement session when they were visiting for a few days, all of which were rainy and cold, but thankfully the weather co-operated with us just long enough to capture some great shots and the misty rain only made the beach feel even more atmospheric and intimate, which is exactly how I imagine their wedding will feel too.

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katrina & robbie | engagement | santa cruz photographer

Katrina and Robbie are both talented visual artists working in the film industry, so I was excited (and slightly intimidated) to get creative with their engagement portraits. I really wanted them to love their images, and I think by just documenting them doing some of the activities they enjoy together, we were able to really capture who they are as a couple. Robbie is from the UK and he loves to have a beer or two at the pub, so we started at the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery. There’s nothing like a pint to ease the awkwardness of having a camera follow your every move and to help amplify the fun. We then headed over to Wilder Ranch to wander around the old farmstead and do some crossword puzzles in the orchard. We followed the sun to where it set over the coastline and watched the full moon rise into the dusk light. It was one of those atmospheric evenings, one that made me feel so incredibly lucky to get to meet cool people, go to cool places and simply document love for a living.

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