engagements

Cat + Andrew - Beach Sunset Engagement Session - Laguna Beach Ca. by Ulices Del Toro

Had a wonderful time getting to know Cat and Andrew at their engagement session. It was our first time meeting in person, but we clicked right away and they were game for anything!

We had a perfect warm summer day at the beach in JANUARY! What more could you ask for?

Laguna Beach was perfect and I am so excited about how this set came out. I cannot wait for their big day!

David + Suli - Sunrise Surprise Proposal at Griffith Observatory - Los Angeles California by Ulices Del Toro

It was truly an amazing experience being able to photograph David + Suli’s surprise sunrise proposal at the beautiful Griffith Observatory overlooking Los Angeles.

Thanks to the help of his sister Becky, and several of his friends, David was able to construct the ultimate plan from all the way across the country in Florida, for the perfect dream proposal. This past Christmas, David surprised his girlfriend with a vacation to Southern California! She had no idea what else was being planned besides what is already a trip to remember.

When I talked to David, he told me his initial plan to surprise his girlfriend and it was perfect. We went over some logistics, and being from California, I gave him a couple of ideas to look into. With his friends, he came up with the best plan, to propose to his girlfriend at the Griffith Observatory overlooking Los Angeles at sunrise!

From my perspective, it was really fun to plan how I would photograph this. There were many people at the Observatory exercising, taking photos and considering Suli had no idea who I was, I was not worried about “bing caught”. I had already seen photos of them and knew exactly who I was looking for.

As they walked up to the Observatory, I picked a spot to remain stationary and pretend I was taking photos of the city scape. David, being an avid photography enthusiast, convinced Suli to come with him to the Observatory early in the morning to take som photos of the sunrise. I remember at one point I had the camra pointed in their direction and Suli looked at me funny…but then looked behind her and noticed the Hollywood Sign, and that was enough to convince her that that was what I was taking a photo of.

David set his stuff down and walked up to the binoculars that are located at the Observatory and took a peek through. He then instructed Suli to have a look. When she did she immediately started laughing with joy. At the other end of those binoculars was two of her and Davids friends standing outside a car holding a giant sig asking her to marry him.

She was so struck by the surprise she hadn’t even realized it was her own friends holding the sign. David got down on one knee as I cam around the corner know she was fully in the moment and knew I would not even be close to being a distraction as he began to ask her for her hand in marriage.

Of course she said yes as she threw herself on to him hugging him in disbelief. He told her to look through the binoculars again and thats when she realized it was he friends. As she started to mutter the questions, “What are they doing here?” An entire group of her friends and close family members came around the corner to surprise her, if the proposal was not enough!

David was able to bring their entire group of friends and family to spend the week with them on their trip to California, a trip that will be forever a core memory.

This was such a fun experience, I am so excited for these two and just so grateful they found me and had me be a part of this chapter of their lives.

Bryce + Desiree - Engagement - Snow Covered Mountain Session - Angelus Oaks CA by Ulices Del Toro

When I first talked to Bryce + Desiree about their engagement session, they already knew they wanted to do something adventurous. We planned on doing a mountain session in hopes of finding snow. Well the snow found us! The week we planned on having their session, we had a nice winter storm that more than guaranteed snow. Luckily for us, Bryce’s truck was built for this.

On the way up the mountain headed towards Angelus Oaks, we were a little concerned about finding a place to play in the snow that wouldn’t be over-populated with everyone who had the same idea that weekend. As we entered the snow covered mountains, we ended up getting into a mile-long line of traffic with people waiting to put their chains on.

We made a last minute decision to take a side road that was already covered in snow and had not been plowed yet. That road just happen to lead us up to the perfect empty trailhead where we had full range of mountains and forest completely covered in snow all to ourselves.

We got to run and play in the snow and take some pretty epic photos. Surprisingly it wasn’t event hat cold. it could not have been a more perfect way to spend an engagement session. Towards the end of our session it even started to snow on us. This really will be an engagement session i will never forget.

Juan + Dianne - Engagement - Rancho Palos Verdes CA Beach Sunset by Ulices Del Toro

This was such a great intimate engagement session. I met with Juan and Dianne on what looked like a private beach in Rancho Palos Verdes. In California, you are used to seeing crowds at the beach, but we had this beautiful sandy beach to ourselves.

It was pretty great walking around, letting these two enjoy their session together and create some really beautiful images as we talked about heir future wedding ideas and everything they had planned. We photographed into the sunset and a little after. It was the perfect beach sunset session.

Alex + Lauren - Engagement - Claremont CA by Ulices Del Toro

Claremont Village is a vibe for photos! Had a blast walking around Downtown Claremont CA with Alex + Lauren for their engagement session. I love that we can just hang with our couples, go to downtown, walk around get some coffee and ice cream together and let them enjoy their shoot like its another date night. Loved every spot we hit in this session and their wedding is going to be such an amazing time!

Cory + Sahar - Engagement - Forest Sunset Angelus Oaks California by Ulices Del Toro

I cannot express my excitement for this couple enough. The first time I officially met Cory + Sahar was at this engagement session and we really hit it off! We had the best time exploring the San Gorgonio Wilderness up near Angelus Oaks Ca. It felt like we had the mountain to ourselves, we played in the street, found some cabins in the forest and shot way past sunset. Had the best time and seriously cannot wait for their wedding which I don’t want to spoil now, but I will hint, it may or may not take place at the top of a mountain somewhere….

Cameron + Amanda - Engagement - Oak Canyon Nature Center - Anaheim Hills CA by Ulices Del Toro

Had an amazing time photographing this cute engagement session at the Oak Canyon Nature Center in Anaheim Hills CA with Cameron + Amanda. It was a nice walk down memory lane, just a few years back Maria and I got married at this exact location, it was so good to see everything from this side of the lens. I am so looking forward to this wonderful wedding with these two.

Karissa + Kayley - Engagement - Laguna Beach Sunset Session by Ulices Del Toro