I’m a wee bit envious of Mai & John who live in the heart of downtown LA. Everytime I pass through downtown there is a new amazing restaurant, collection of lofts for sale, wine bar, line of shops – it would be quite dreamy to live in an airy loft near Little Tokyo, being just a few steps away from ramen, or fancy schmancy hot dogs, & tons of perfect cafes. The next best thing though, of course, is to shoot there :)

I love the arts district and Mai & John worked it so well! We found lots of great spots before heading to Union Station to finish up. Such a fun afternoon – so excited for their wedding come July!

P.S. This has never happened before, but we randomly bumped into 3 (3!) photographers that we knew during this session – Serena, Dave, & my sister. We bumped into the last one first, and as I was chatting with Mai & John, explaining, “yeah, the arts district is really popular for photoshoots”, Scott goes “um, I think that’s your sister.” Crazy!

When we were planning their engagement session, Clair & Paul sent me an amazing list of locations that had both the photographer and the LA-lover in me just bubbly with excitement. We had all the spots set, but a few days before the session I had a random Family-Guy-type flashback that took me to a beautiful field of wildflowers, with LA’s skyscrapers on the horizon, silhouetting the sky. I was first introduced to the lovely location by Serena Grace – we had shot together there earlier in the month along the park’s rolling hills and on the drive out, I had caught a glimpse of some bright yellow and purple blooms.

I mentally shuffled it away in my “I want to shoot THERE!!” list and when it popped back into my head, I knew the time had come :) I immediately emailed Clair & Paul and was so elated to hear that they were totally on board with throwing the location in the mix! I’m so happy we were able to spend some time there – they worked those wildflowers like no other!

Afterwards we headed back to their fantastic apartment to finish up the day…

Isn’t there just something terribly romantic about rooftops? Add a so-in-love couple and a fabulous cityscape in the background and you have the dreamiest of scenarios!

This last shot was 100% their idea and I can’t stress how much I LOVE it! They dubbed it the “Dolce & Gabbana” shot and it’s definitely ones of my favs from the session!

I first met with Clair and Paul in a cozy cafe below Clair’s loft apartment, nestled in a tall brick building in the heart of Downtown LA’s Arts District. We brainstormed engagement ideas, and they explained to me how they would love to do the session in the neighborhood right around the apartment, where they shared so many days and countless memories together. As we continued to plan the session through email they added in a few additional locations in downtown LA that were sentimental to them, including the very building itself. Worn wooden floors, an antique elevator, a rooftop that showcased LA’s brilliant skyline – the building was straight out of a classic movie and provided the perfect backdrop for Clair & Paul’s session (and had me nothing short of giddy with excitement!)

Clair and Paul – thank you for running around downtown with us and sharing your favorite spots in the city. There are so many moments to share, so please enjoy Part I for now!

I could have shot by these bougainvillea blossoms all day! And isn’t Clair’s headband just perfect?

After shooting some around their apartment, we headed to the 4th Street Bridge:

Scott grabbed this shot on the walk down:

We returned to their apartment to change outfits and hit up a couple more locations! Part II to come soon, including a fabulous wildflower field smack-dab in the middle of the city and a visit to the rooftop!