Tag Archives: san francisco

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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lori & nick | engagement | san francisco photographer

An afternoon spent with Lori and Nick in their San Francisco world would make anyone want to move there, including me! We started on their rooftop deck with amazing views out over the city and a good game of dominos between the bride and groom-to-be, followed by a champagne toast and a tour of their favorite places to spend time together in the city. This is a couple who definitely know how to have fun together, whether it’s running through the Presidio, playing rugby (Nick played on an SF rugby team for years) or traveling the world together, (next stop Greece and Turkey.) After getting to know these two, I am SO excited to document their wedding that will no doubt be full of a whole lot of merriment and up at Northstar in Tahoe later this summer.

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nancy & david | golden gate park engagement session

This was one of those days where everything just seemed to flow. Golden Gate Park is notoriously crowded on most weekends and I arrived fully prepared to dodge and crop people out of my shot all afternoon, but it turned out to be a beautiful and relaxed day where it felt like we had the de Young sculpture garden and the gorgeous Japanese Tea Gardens all to ourselves. Nancy chose the Tea Gardens as the main location for their engagement session because it’s a place that holds special meaning in her life, as her childhood was filled with fond memories of visiting with her parents, who are now no longer with her. I could see how this location actually brought out the carefree kid in these two, as they explored all over the gardens, climbed the bridge, ate sesame cookies and drank tea together. The afternoon felt so full of playful wonder and genuine love, and I left that evening even more excited to photograph their wedding at the Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco later in the year.

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tiffany & joey | san francisco engagement session

I may be more than 10 blog posts behind, but it’s a brand new year, so I thought I’d start playing catch up with a lovely little engagement session. This was such a fun shoot, one that really reflected this couple’s love for San Francisco. We had Joey’s sister and his mom chauffeur us all over the city so that we could fit in as many iconic San Francisco locations as possible in one 2 hour session. We visit pier 7, Grace Cathedral, and even made it to Baker Beach for sunset despite the crazy traffic. During the car rides in between I got to know Tiffany and Joey and their family, and I got to see how kind and affectionate they are with each other. Then we would arrive at our destination, jump out of the car and immediately start shooting while Joey’s sister pulled off crazy parallel parks or just circled the neighborhood until we were done….and that’s how we dominated the city together in record time!

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marilyn & jason | a first look in san francisco

Marilyn and Jason decided to get ready in San Francisco and have their first look on Maiden Lane, since the city is their home and its streets hold significance in their relationship. I have never been so entertained by a bunch of groomsmen waiting for the girls to get ready…complete with ‘the roller coaster,’  jump shots and some iphone antics. After their emotional first look we walked over to Neiman Marcus (where Marilyn had her makeup done so beautifully) for a few portraits before heading off to Clos La Chance Winery….more photos coming soon!

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the potter family | mill valley family portrait session

I kind of want to be adopted into this family…preferably by Thanksgiving please. This is the kind of family that make you wonder why you don’t just have one more kid and move to their neighborhood because they make three kids and living in Mill Valley look like so much fun. When I go anywhere near San Francisco I usually prepare myself for experiencing some of the stress of city living, but spending an afternoon with the Potter family was exactly the antithesis of that as everything felt so easy and full of the beauty and wonder that every childhood deserves. I love that all three girls share bright sparkling spirits and amazing smiles, while both boys share a kind and mellow disposition….the whole family just fits together in such a beautiful way. Happy kids with good looking parents make my job pretty easy…especially when I bring along my wonderful assistant Jen to perform circus-like entertainment behind me throughout the afternoon. (Thanks Jen, I loved having you by my side!) We started at their family’s home and then drove a few minutes to Muir Beach for the golden hour. If it weren’t for the sun setting I would have just kept shooting for days.

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karen & mark | san francisco cliff house wedding

Karen and Mark live in LA but they chose to have their wedding in San Francisco, so they really embraced the whole city theme and stayed at the historic Westin St. Francis and held their wedding at the iconic Cliff House. Karen and Mark are two of the most positive, intelligent (Karen is a Harvard educated and Mark is an educator) and kind people you could ever hope to meet and they definitely brought the sunshine to the city on that fog-filled day. They had an emotional first look at the hotel and then we walked with the family down to the cable cars and stopped at Crissy Field before heading to the Cliff House. Their vows had me in tears, and I love that Karen added a story about a day she spent with Mark when he helped her fix up her backyard. At the end of the day, after Mark had left, she realized that the garden was a metaphor for what Mark had done to her life, he had come in and made it more beautiful. Right after the ceremony we headed down to the beach and then everyone came out onto the balcony and watched the fog miraculously lift right before the sun dipped into the Pacific. That pretty much sums up the whole day; two positive people manifesting a bright and beautiful future together surrounded by their favorite people…and that is everything a wedding should be.

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