Marissa + Tyler’s Beach Engagement Session: Santa Monica

sjphoto Engagement beach, destination wedding, Engagement Photography, natural light, Santa Monica 0 Comments

I met Marissa and Tyler at the end of last year during a wedding I shot for Marissa’s sister in Bakersfield. I was so thrilled when she contacted me soon afterwards as she was starting to plan her own wedding!! It was almost 7 years ago when Marissa met Tyler during spring break at Pizmo Beach. In the spring of last year, Tyler brought Marissa back to Seal beach to ask the big question! They’re now planning an intimate wedding at the beautiful Seven Oaks Country Club, in Bakersfield, this May. When I talked to Marissa about where she might like to do her engagement photoshoot, the idea of the beach was on the top of her list. We began their session at one of my favorite hotels in Santa Monica, the Viceroy! viceroy engagement photoshoot

viceroy engagement photoshoot

viceroy santa moninca

For some beach shots, we walked across the street towards the pier. Spring is definitely in bloom, and we took some warm sunset shots overlooking the ocean.

santa monica engagement photography

Fleming + Samantha: Venice Engagement

sjphoto Engagement architectural photography, beach, Engagement Photography, nautral light, night photography, strobe, venice beach 0 Comments

Fleming and Samantha met back in 2005, on an elevator. Their relationship grew after some dates, and now 6.5 years later they are planning a wedding in their favorite neighborhood! These two love hanging out in the Venice/Santa Monica area, their pup Ruby, and exploring the world, and food. For their engagement session, they wanted to stay close to home and visit some of their favorite spots! First stop, the popular Binocular building, on Main Street.

venice beach engagement photography

The Rose Cafe on Main Street is the location of their rehearsal dinner.

venice beach engagement photography

Venice Beach, CA

venice beach engagement photography

*UPDATE* Fleming and Samantha chose their favorite 8×10″ to be displayed at the entrance of their wedding. Here’s what it looked like!

Sakura + Nathan: Movie Themed Engagement Session

sjphoto Engagement backyard wedding, beach, natural light, night photography, retouching, Santa Monica 0 Comments

Sakura and Nathan have been together for almost a decade… They met while working at the same video game store way back when. I actually met Sakura a couple of years ago at a wedding and was pretty stoked to hear she wanted to hire me for her own backyard wedding! Sakura describes herself as “non-traditional” and creative, and their wedding will have a lot of fun alternative ideas with a great color scheme and details! I can’t divulge too much right now, but maybe their engagement sessions has some hints for what’s to come? Sakura and Nathan both share a passion for movies. For their engagement session, they wanted to reenact some of their favorite movie scenes. This first set is inspired by “Shaun of the Dead” zombie scene, riffling through some records.

movie themed engagement photoshoot

santa monica engagement photography

These two love their dogs Halo and Rambo!

santa monica engagement photography

These two birds are from the movie Dumb and Dumber.

santa monica engagement photography

Can you guess what movie the last shot represents?

movie themed engagement photoshoot

Aurora + James: Engagement Long Beach

sjphoto Engagement beach, Engagement Photography, travel, wedding planning 2 Comments

I met Aurora and James last month as they began planning their September 2012 wedding at a villa in San Juan Capistranio. They had only been engaged a month, and I was so thrilled photography was a high priority on their list of things to book first! Their ideas for an intimate wedding with lots of handmade details, made my heart happy. Aurora and James met in Long Beach and are planning to relocate at the end of the month to be closer to James’ new office. To celebrate this time in their life and how they met, they chose to have their engagement session at the Queen Mary and a nearby lighthouse!

long beach engagement session

I actually photographed the Queen Mary a couple of month ago for one of my architectural projects… during that shoot I learned the hotel was recently the location of choice of a Victoria Secret Campaign. CLICK HERE to watch the behind the scenes video of that. As we walked around the ship, we found so many great locations! The following 2 shots below was one of my favorite location finds… angel wings!

long beach engagement session

We were about to leave the Queen Mary and head over to our second location, when James found this amazing photo spot! I love how you can see the sign, boats, and the lighting on their faces is just beautiful!

Queen Mary, Long Beach

Location #2 was across the river at a lighthouse. There were lots of people around, so we had to wait for just the right moment to get these shots.

long beach engagement session lighthouse

long beach engagement session

long beach engagement session lighthouse

Melissa + Jeff: Sunset Engagement

sjphoto Engagement beach, Engagement Photography, Malibu, nautral light, wedding planning 0 Comments

Every once in a while, I get a couple who decide to book me as their wedding photographer, without ever meeting in person. They’re usually referrals from a friend’s wedding I’ve photographed. I’m actually super flattered in these cases, but also a really nervous! Last night, I met one of my 2012 clients in person for the first time, Melissa and Jeff. They were giggly and loving right from the start, which always makes my job super easy. They chose to have their engagement session during sunset at one of their favorite spots in Malibu, Paradise Cove!

Malibu Engagement Photography