Robert + Melody - Downtown Engagement Session - Orange California

Engagement photography sessions are a wonderful way to celebrate the love and excitement of a couple's journey towards marriage. It is also an opportunity for me to not only meet my couples, but for all of us to get to know each other and become comfortable with one-another. I also use this as an opportunity to gain their trust, so come the wedding day, they know exactly what to expect from me and focus on each other on their big day.

One of the most memorable aspects of this engagement session was the couple's willingness to embrace spontaneity. Whether it was dancing in the middle of plant shop or explore the back space of an abandoned building, Robert and Melody's carefree spirits shone through in every photograph.

It was so great getting to know and spending time with Robert, Melody and their cute pup Benny!

David + Suli - Sunrise Surprise Proposal at Griffith Observatory - Los Angeles California

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

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.

Cameron + Amanda - Engagement - Oak Canyon Nature Center - Anaheim Hills CA

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

Ray + Angela - Engagement - Date Night in Downtown - Claremont

Downtown Claremont was the perfect setting for Ray + Angela’s engagement session! They have spent a lot of their time here, so it only made sense to have their photos done here as well. We had such an amazing time walking around and finding all the best spots for some photos. These two are an amazing and fun couple, and we cannot wait for their big day!

Luis + Sierra - Engagement - Angeles Oaks Ca

You know it’s going to be an awesome shoot when you pull up to your session, and everything is covered in snow! This was also the first time we met Luis and Sierra in person, and I’m pretty sure we hit it off because we spent the rest of the day laughing and having exploring the Angelus Oaks forest together!

Their pup Waffles also came with them, he loved running around the snow and playing with his humans! This was such a fun shoot from beginning to end. Their engagement session was a blast and we cannot wait for their big day!