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.

Sergio + Nicole - Engagement - Mountain Sunset Twin Peaks

This is one engagement session I will certainly never forget.

I feel so fortunate to have been chosen to photograph these two. I have known Nicole for many years now. A long time ago, Maria and I hiked into the mountains to a place called Bridge to Nowhere to Bungee Jump off of it. Nicole was our instructor that day. We bonded with all of those instructors that day over a large mount of breakfast burritos our crew brought in with them that day.

Since then we have been friends on instagram. When these two started dating, it was no surprise to see what an adventurous life they lived together. From bungee jumping, sky diving, traveling, camping, hiking, these two never had a boring weekend. When they got engaged and reached out to us, we were just so happy for them and excited we would get the chance to be a part of their day.

The part I will never forget about this engagement session was going from one moment where we were completely enjoying the session, laughing and telling stories, to the next moment where we were running for our lives being chased out of the forest by a swarm of yellow jacket wasps!

We ran and ran, only to stop and swat the wasps off each other for a moment and keep running. It was really scary for a while there, but it all turned into laughter and disbelief. That is one of the craziest things I have experienced during a session, but in the end we were all ok, had a big laugh about it and were able to finish their photos and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

We are so excited about their wedding and cannot wait for the day to come.

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!

Brandon + Jessica - Engagement - Mountain Range Sunset Temecula Ca

We were so excited to photograph Brandon + Jessica’s engagement session. We have been a part of Jessica’s family for a really long time. We have photographed many of their family events, and all of her siblings weddings. This is going to be a very special wedding for us, and their engagement session was just the beginning of that for us.

Joshua + Felicia - Engagement - Dancing Through Downtown Pasadena

Joshua + Felicia have to be one of the funnest couples we have met! We met them for the first time to photograph their engagement session, and right from the start they were so much fun. They had us meet at the Historic Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena. They really loved the look of the theatre and just liked the fact that it had been in a couple movies they liked, and we thought that was pretty cool.

They did not have anything specific in mind for their engagement photos, they just wanted to come out and have some fun. It’s always exciting when we have a couple who is up for adventuring around and exploring our surroundings to make some really awesome photos. We walked around Pasadena and found some pretty cool places to shoot.

We found a cool stairway behind the theatre to get creative. We caught the sunset in a little residential area. We visited the Colorado Street Bridge and found some beautiful areas to run around and get them dancing. It was really great just hanging out with them, and we know their wedding is going to be such a blast!

Irvin + Jocelyn - Engagement - Foggy Mountain Adventure in Lake Arrowhead

Here in Southern California, fog isn’t something you can always plan for, so when we do get a little fog, we know it’s going to be a fun session. Irvin and Jocelyn were pretty excited about it too, they knew it was going to make for some pretty awesome photos here near Lake Arrowhead! It also helped that these two are also one of the cutest couples! They were forest ready with their Redwings tied high, we ran around and had a blast just laughing and watching these two fall for each other all over again.