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bay area wedding photographers

Romantic Elopement in the Redwoods @ Boulder Creek, CA

Romantic Elopement in the Redwoods @ Boulder Creek, CA

This private elopement location hidden in the woods of Boulder Creek, CA is an ideal location for micro-weddings of 20 or fewer guests. The ceremony component is typically the first 20 minutes at this location, then we take a few family photos before escaping into the woods with just the bride and groom (and me). When it’s just the three of us, I’m basically giving them a guided tour of the creek, forest trails, and of course an iconic redwood stump that is a must-have for all couples who choose this spot. Here’s a few of my favorites from this elopement:

Redwoods Engagement Session @ Nisene Marks, Aptos, CA

Redwoods Engagement Session @ Nisene Marks, Aptos, CA

This was a fun engagement session with a mix of natural light and off-camera lighting throughout the whole shoot. Nisene can be a pretty dark redwood forest, offering up moody, gritty photos; but if you make the extra effort to bring light into the equation, some truly creative awesomeness can be had. Below is a selection of my favorite photos from the shoot, enjoy!

San Juan Bautista Wedding at The Mission

San Juan Bautista Wedding at The Mission

You can tell it’s a slow part of the season when the sneak peek of my first wedding of the year includes over 300 photos! I don’t know who will ever read this, but I can tell you it was such a JOY to be around people and to capture an actual full wedding. I’m so over this pandemic! Granted, it was still a small wedding, and there were lots of masks (which makes for challenging candid photos) but it was so fun to celebrate a wedding after so long away from them.

The wedding was a full Catholic mass at The Mission in San Juan Bautista, and after a few family photos inside the church, we went outside and across the street for some pretty beautiful settings in this historical location. The reception was a beautiful affair at the couple’s back yard home in San Jose. I have to say, I have high hopes for 2021 weddings – they cant’t come soon enough!

Pebble Beach Surprise Engagement / Proposal

Pebble Beach Surprise Engagement / Proposal

We had a rough idea of where my client would propose to his girlfriend, but like wedding photography, I’m always prepared to roll with the fluid circumstances of a proposal. I’d checked off the important stuff: 1) Satellite image with rough location, 2) rough timing of said proposal and 3) received selfie of couple so I don’t stalk the wrong couple LOL.

Luckily both sets of parents were also with me to witness the moment – this isn’t typical, but at least gave me confidence I wasn’t going to end up in the wrong place! Apparently these two are long-time sweethearts, and life found a way to finally, formally, unite this couple after 16 years. A beautiful thing, if you ask me!

Needless to say, everything came together like clockwork. She said yes, he cried. Well, they both did. They all did. I did. Ok not that last part. But I was happy.

Here’s a selection of my faves from the proposal itself and the brief engagement shoot afterwards. Luckily they were dressed for a nice dinner in Pebble Beach . (hint: guys, always tell her there’s a nice dinner waiting so she’s not wearing her comfy sweatpants when I capture this part!). Enjoy ;)

West Cliff Dr / Santa Cruz Engagement (She Said Yes!)

West Cliff Dr / Santa Cruz Engagement (She Said Yes!)

It seems like shooting surprise marriage proposals are 90% planning and 10% execution. I mean, I don’t want to accidentally stalk the wrong couple, or maybe be hanging out 100’ from where the guy decides to drop to one knee – so it’s important to use past experience to inform a perfectly planned and photographed proposal.

I knew Steve wanted to propose to his girlfriend on West Cliff Drive (a very special place for them), and specifically on one of two benches near a cool tree at the intersection of De La Costa Avenue. The problem? The benches are constantly occupied by pedestrians who (rightly) want to stop and enjoy the view. My solution? I went up to a gentleman who was hanging out on “the bench” and told him what was going down in about 15 minutes. After confirming he planned on hanging out that long, we conspired… I showed him the picture I had of my client, so when they got close he simply got up and walked off, leaving it free for my couple and nobody else.

Small things like this delight me, and of course when Steve transitioned from bench to down-on-one-knee, I was ready and shooting away. Here’s a few of my faves…. enjoy!