Natsuko & Jenner | Anza Borrego Slot Canyon Engagement

So, to be honest, I don’t see myself getting over my obsession with Natsuko and Jenner’s desert engagement session, well, anytime soon. It was perfection. The sweetest couple who were so completely into each other that I barely needed to direct them, (which was great because for a decent amount of the session they were out of shouting distance and completely in a world of their own). Perfect location, perfect light, perfect weather, all in all the best engagement photo session.

Natsuko first found me on The Knot and when she emailed she said, “So my fiancé and I are looking to have engagement photos done when I visit him on vacation, we have a long distance relationship right now and he is in San Diego while I live in Japan.” Something about long distance relationships always gets me. Maybe it’s the idea that the couple has already been a bit tested and stuck it out, or perhaps just the thought of the phone calls, texts, emails, and letters that make up the day to day of their relationship – whatever it is, I’m always extra excited for them. Newly engaged couples who are planning a wedding knowing that they can’t wait to finally be together. When she first told me the dates that she and Jenner would be in town together I was so disappointed to realize that I was the one who was going to be out of town. I can’t tell you how honored and flattered I felt when they changed the date they to be one that could work with my schedule.

In one of our many conversations leading up to their session I mentioned that my husband had spent most of his high school years in Japan, (Navy baby), and when they showed up to our session, Natsuko had brought me a couple of Japanese treats to share with him. See? Sweetest couple. Of course, over the next few hours of photos and outfit changes the bag was pushed under the seat of his car and I accidentally left them, still disappointed!

My favorite things about this session?

• We went into it with a strong plan and design for what we wanted to do, so the timing and location were exactly what we had envisioned

• We took it slow- well mostly slow. We may have scurried a bit right before sunset to get back on top

• They took my advice and brought a wide range of outfits that worked wonderfully with our environment

• The hot white sun of the desert, the orangey pink of the slot canyon, how the sky went from orange to turquoise for the perfect sunset and blue hour- all my favorite hues in the same place.

• • Them. Two of them. They couldn’t take their eyes off of each other and every second was a smile or a new caress

I would do that 2.5 hour drive to the desert with them again and again, handpicked locations are always my favorite, and this session was a 12 out of 10. Extra-long engagement photo sessions can seem like a lot of work and a decent expense, but let me tell you, they are worth every penny! they’re going to remember how they felt in those photos for the rest of their lives and I am going to continue to feel like the luckiest girl in the world- to get paid to make new friends and witness new love, (and edit, and edit, and edit until my eyes fall out- but that is another story for another day!).

Lakehouse Hotel Wedding, San Marcos || Jessica & Justin

The first thing I noticed about these two when we met for coffee, was the look in Justin‘s eyes whenever he talked about Jessica. He was friendly and confident and clearly adored her and had for a while. I asked them how they had met and he talked about multiple reggae concerts and how fun she is- all the while never taking his eyes off her. For her part, she was excited, nervous about the wedding planning, but never about him. She kept her hand on his knee or his arm throughout the conversation, and it was obvious that she trusted him implicitly. She related that she was the first one in her family to get married, and it in all honesty, she had never been to a wedding before and felt unprepared for all the ins and outs.

And on the day, you would never have been able to guess that the planning of this date ever made her anxious. It was full of favorite people, personal details (the bride’s wedding white Vans, the groom’s fantastic hairstyle, her favorite colors, dancing to music that they both loved), and seamless planning. Thanks in part to a lovely venue at The Lakehouse Resort San Marcos, her fantastic wedding coordinator Michelle from Arrowsmith Events, and some fast work between the flower man and myself to learn how to tie a bow tie, for her father, on the fly.

Justin held back tears as his bride walked down the aisle on her father's arm, and she let them go as she told him how much he meant to her and made promises to last a lifetime. When the wedding ceremony was over, they laughed with friends, hugged family, and changed shoes- before I stole them away for a private 20 minutes on the golf course to just revel in each other’s company and soak in the beautiful life changing promises they had just made.

The toasts were heartfelt, funny, and sweet, and the guest’s were eager to hug the new bride and groom and tell them just how perfect they were together. Good food was eaten, dances were had, and the flower man’s girlfriend caught the bouquet- just as I suspect she was meant to.

Jessica and Justin, I hope this is not the best day of your life, I hope it is only the beginning of a lifetime of supporting each other and growing your friendship and love.

Vendor Love:

Wedding Venue: The Lakehouse Golf & Resort

Wedding Coordinator: Michelle, Arrowsmith Events

Photography: Mine, The Kinship Perspective

Bride’s Hair: SV Glamour

Flowers: Thistle Dew Floral & Event Design

DJ & Photo Booth: South Coast Production Group

Wedding Cake: Flour Power Cakery

Chair Rentals: JD Events Pro

How To || The Top 10 Things to Bring to Your Engagement Session

 Over all the years I’ve been shooting photos, I have had engagement sessions that were sweet and beautiful (I mean, two people who just decided to get married taking photos together? That is always going to be wonderful), and I have had ones that were absolutely, hands-down, on-fire incredible…

Here are the 10 things that I have consistently noticed help engagement photo sessions be the best they can be.

1)    A plan.

2)    Neutral, coordinating clothing.

3)    Two to three outfit changes - each!

4)    Extra clothing to keep you warm/cool if your photographed outfits won’t cut it.

5)    A pretty blanket to sit on.

6)    A fresh manicure (mostly for whoever’s wearing the ring, ha).

7)    Accessories - watch/jacket/hat/scarf/great earrings!

8)    Hairbrush, lip gloss, mints.

9)    Water bottles for both of you.

10) Snacks.

 I won’t be cheesy and add “a great attitude!” as the last one, but truly- the ability and confidence to relax and enjoy yourself and the session? Well then creativity happens without feeling the need to pose or smile a certain way- that absolutely makes a perfect photo shoot. The best images I achieve often come with the engaged couple telling me afterward "it felt like we were on a date, and you were just a fun friend in the background.”

 A plan: Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love a good adventure and going off the beaten path or changing things up is my absolute favorite. HOWEVER, all the best engagement sessions I have done are absolutely the ones where we had a plan. We knew where we were going, we knew where we were going if where we were originally going didn’t work out, we knew what to wear at what location and most importantly; the bride, groom, and myself all knew exactly how we wanted it to feel. Do you want upscale classy images where are you are dressed to the nines? Do you want fun beachy photos where you end up making out in the water? Library? Coffee shop? Bar? Done, done, and done- all of it, but have a plan.

Neutral coordinated clothing: At the end of the day what people want to see most and what you want to remember isn’t your outfit, it’s a love in your eyes, the sticky hand clasped fingers, the tenderness in your faces. Neutral clothing really supports seeing YOU in the photos. And neutral doesn’t have to be boring, it just means simple solid pieces or very small prints that stay away from logos, bold colors, and distracting graphics. Matchy-matchy? Let’s not, leave the 90s where they belong, but be thinking as you choose outfits about keeping your clothing in the same family of warm tones, cool tones, similar seasons, etc.

Two or three outfit changes: Bring at least two outfit changes, one that is a bit more dressed up and another that is casual. If you can’t decide on what to bring, bring more, not less. We can always leave it in the car and it’s nice to have options. A note on dressing up, stay away from articles of clothing that are super tight or super short. A snug dress come look amazing but it limits you and how you move. I can’t tell you how many fantastic photo shoots have been dampened a little by complicated posing brought on by clothing that was hard to move in.

Other clothing to keep you warm/cool: Being cold is THE WORST. It’s hard to be fun when you are overly cold or overly hot. At one desert engagement session that I did recently, we completely forgot to prepare for with warm clothes for the morning and it was a whole new level of cold. My fingers were so cold that the touch screen on my camera would not function. Cold. Learn from my mistakes.

A pretty blanket: to sit on, to lay on, to wrap up and snuggle in – a light weight blanket or throw that coordinates with your outfit is always a must.

The rest is pretty self-explanatory: new bling is more fun to show off with clean and tidy nails, we all need to stay hydrated, a hangry fiancé is not a happy fiancé, etc, etc.

Now go forth into the world feeling confident and well planned… and make your photographer the happiest person on the block.

La Jolla Shores Anniversary || Chip & Heather

I first met Heather about a hundred years ago… okay, maybe only ten. A year or two later, she was starry-eyed and telling me about this boy who was teaching her to surf. And another year or two later? I was photographing their wedding.

Now, seven years later, I’m here: photographing the two of them together surfing and loving and occasionally grabbing a shot of my kids in the background (because there’s no way I was going to be able to go to the beach for a surf session without at least one, and probably all three, of my kids).

As a lifetime San Diego native, there is just something about the call of the giant sea - peaceful and scary, overwhelming in it’s bigness and yet somehow inviting - that’s something like being closer to God, and I am all in. I know the draw it has for these two fantastic humans and I’m not the slightest bit sorry to get to be the one here doing this.

Also, PSA! If you need a La Jolla Shores surf session photographed - text me. I’m so in for hanging out with you on the beach for an hour or three. And actually, any beach that I can drive, fly, or paddle board to - I’m in!

(I hear flights to Hawaii are super cheap right now, just sayin’.)

For the love:

Location: La Jolla Shores (But be nice and keep ‘em pretty, fish are friends!)

Her wetsuit + board: Roxy +

His wetsuit + board: Ripcurl +

Cleveland National Forest Engagement || Joel & Katelyn

Gosh I love my job! I mean, it’s a job, not every day is feeling like a creative mic dropper, some days are just plain work (I’m looking at you emails and Instagram), but really, most of the time I get to hang out with super rad people and put emotions on paper. Plus, some days end in a burger and parmesean fries.

This getting married thing that they are doing is something that everyone who knows them has been crossing their fingers and hoping for for a couple of years now. And I’m the one that gets to watch it unfold? Plus added bonus of hoofing around in these gorgeous hills? Lucky me.

Thank you, all of you, for giving me this space to show up and throw my whole heart in the ring.

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Vendor love:

Venues: Cleveland National Forest and Laguna Campground

Accessories: Converse and Vans

Burger and Fries: Curbside Eatery

Ring: Rare Carat

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