Ragen & Mitch's Baker Beach Engagement Session | San Francisco Bay Area Wedding Photographer

I am so excited to photograph the wedding of these two lovely people next fall just outside of my hometown of Sacramento! For their engagement session we chose Baker Beach in San Francisco in large part so that they could bring their sweet one year old labradoodle, Fitz! We had the best time playing ball, running around in the sand, and cozying up to stay warm (them, not me, lol). Ragen and Mitch asked if they could bring along one prop - American and Canadian flags! I had fun incorporating them into their engagement session :)

Taylor & Hannah | San Francisco Bay Area Wedding & Engagement Photographer

I love when my clients suggest places to shoot because more often than not those locations are special to them. When this couple suggested Muir Woods and the Filbert Steps I was excited because those were two places where I've never shot. Muir Woods is a 30ish minute drive from San Francisco but you feel a world away. Even on a sunny day at 3pm we were enveloped in the shadows of towering redwoods. I'm sure candle manufactures everywhere wish they could duplicate the small - it was like we were in a fairytale. I half expected Little Red Riding Hood to pop out at any moment :) After Muir Woods, we headed back towards their apartment and were graced with the last bits of hazy sun. Views of the TransAmerica building, the Bay Bridge, Coit Tower, and iconic steep hills surrounded us in a literal 360 degree fashion. We explored the Filbert Steps and chatted as we walked around the beautiful neighborhood that they call home.

It was a pleasure to meet and spend time with these two lovely humans.

Lisa & Javier's San Francisco Engagement Session | Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field, and Ferry Terminal

I am beyond excited to photographer Lisa & Javier's wedding at the Grand Island Mansion next year! Funny story (okay, not so funny), I was actually an hour and 15 minutes late to our wedding consultation. I have never been late EVER IN MY LIFE. So technically maybe a few times, but I am one of those freaks who is early for everything and typically waits in my car for 30 minutes as to not be obnoxious with how early I am. Well, for whatever reason my brain decided to stop working, I didn't set the alert in my phone, and I remembered while literally in the shower with soap in my hair...at the exact time I was supposed to be meeting them. I ran, soapy hair and all, stark naked through my living room screaming at my husband to find my phone so I could call them. I explained what happened, the truth -that I'm a moron- and they were kind and generous enough to wait for me. Oh, and did I mention that we were meeting about 40 minutes from my home? I may or may not have exceeded the speed limit a few times while my heart raced frantically because I was so horribly guilty.

Seriously, I cannot believe that they didn't hate me after that, much less liked me enough to hire me for their wedding. But, at our wedding consult we bonded over tech (Javier works at Netflix with my husband and actually takes the same shuttle!), our mutual dislike for flying, and many other things.

They chose the Palace of Fine Arts and Crissy Field for their engagement session - both Lisa and Javier went to college in San Francisco and spent a lot of time hanging out on the grass of Chrissy field together and with friends so it was a perfect choice. We also headed to the Ferry Terminal and Embarcadero as the sun went down. It was the perfect day with new friends, and it certainly didn't help that we chose one of the nicest days of the year...it was almost 90 degrees in the city!