This may sound strange, but when a few weeks go by without an SF visit, I start to feel separation anxiety. I begin to miss the city. I miss the different neighborhoods with the colorful Victorian houses. I miss the endless array of fabulous restaurants and bars. I miss my lovely friends. I miss busy downtown (and the huge mall, where I spend too much at H&M, we have H&M’s in LA, I don’t know why I always buy so much at the one in SF, how does that happen?)

Now I’m not about to take off to spend the rest of my days there or anything – there are always moments during SF trips when I miss LA dearly (usually when I’m trying to find parking spots because THEY DO NOT EXIST IN SAN FRANCISCO). But this city will always be a breath of fresh air and source of inspiration to me, and because of this, I adore shooting there.

Especially when frolicking around with a couple as sweet and fun and down-for-anything as Sherry and Tim. The moment when we saw the MUNI train thing we needed to take in the distance and Sherry immediately took off running for it in her heels? That’s when I knew how rad this couple was :) Did I also mention that though sunny, it was freezing that day? How could it be, when they look so good??

I particularly love this session because I feel like it captures so much of what I love about the city…

The quiet, the busy, the touristy, the hidden, the old, the new.

The Bay Bridge, the Ferry Building, a random hilly neighborhood, a pretty skyline.

It’s all good.

This is the part where I talk about the light. Because OMG THE LIGHT!! I DIE!

It was an overcast day in November. I was sitting cross-legged on my bed in my San Francisco hotel room, laptop by my side, on the phone with the sweetest writer who was putting together an article for Professional Photographer magazine. When I hung up the phone I’m pretty sure a fervent pinching session ensued. Because seriously? Phone interview? Really? Me?

I absolutely love engagement sessions and it is an honor to be included in an article in the February issue, regarding ways to keep sessions fun and unique. I get asked from time to time regarding using props to personalize sessions – who brings them, how we decide what to use, etc. and I was excited to share a little about my experiences in this article. You can download the full story here. A very big thank you to to Rebecca Zoumberos for passing my name along initially, and to Stephanie Boozer for chatting with me, putting my rambly rambly thoughts into coherent sentences, and conveying what I meant to say so eloquently :)

Meenah & Shaobo’s wedding was my very last one of 2010, and I could not imagine a more beautiful ending to the wedding season!

I was beyond ecstatic to make my way up to nor Cal to document their day at Thomas Fogarty Winery, tucked up, up, and away in the hills of Woodside. {Have I mentioned how much I love shooting in the bay area? If you’re getting married there, do drop me a hello :)} The drive up the mountain itself was so mystical & breathtaking, and Megan & I were in utter awe – thick forests of evergreens, trees with bright yellow & red leaves, canopies that spread across the entire roadway, and just when you think it COULD NOT POSSIBLY get any more gorgeous, you see the winery. Now green vineyards are amazing, but the rows of golden vines literally took my breath away. It was my first time seeing the vines aglow in fall colors and all I could think about was shooting Meenah & Shaobo in that amazing spectacle. And that we did :)

The weather reports kept announcing a horrific 90% chance of showers, but as always always (always!) happens, the skies cleared for all the important parts of the day. As an added bonus, not one, not two, but FIVE rainbows made appearances at different points during the day, including a perfect one during the ceremony (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??) But say, even if the weather hadn’t cleared, even if it had been pouring/snowing/hailing during every moment, the thing is you would never be able to tell with Meenah & Shaobo. They are seriously one of the sweetest couples I’ve met, full of smiles, and patience, and love. And, happily willing to trek out into muddy fields of grapes, in 50 degree weather, all for the sake of photos. My kind of couple :)

Meenah & Shaobo – thank you so much for allowing me to document this exciting time in your lives! I knew from our very first Skype meeting that it would be a complete joy & honor to work with you, and I’m so so happy the interwebs allowed us to connect! :) Wishing you so so many more years of love and happiness to come!