The opportunity to meet an amazing couple in San Francisco happened in such a fast and fantastic way that I almost can’t believe it.

Just a couple weeks before their session, I get a call from Jeff (in Chicago) who said he and his fiance will be in California and think it would be a good opportunity to do a session with me. I find out they will be in SF, not LA, my heart sinks for 15 seconds, but then we work it out for Scott and I to come up to meet them for the session. On October 2nd, Scott and I drive up to SF, photograph the beautiful couple at the stunning Baker Beach, have dinner with friends (here! it was spectacular!), and then drive back early the next morning for an engagement session back in LA on October 3rd.

It was a whirlwind, but it was a wonderful trip - Jeff and Cherry are beyond sweet and it was so exciting to be able to rendezvous with a couple from halfway across the country. It was also so thrilling and refreshing to shoot in an entirely new and unfamiliar backdrop. I might have been (and still am) a little too obsessed with those twisty windy cypress trees and the perfect backdrop the woodsy area by Baker Beach provided. It was almost as if select trees had toppled down in a perfect fashion, and someone said “we could move these, or we could leave them here because they would look AWESOME in a photoshoot.”

I fall in love with SF a little bit more each time I go - the urban vibe, the cute apartments, the amazing food. I know there are so many other nooks that we have yet to explore and better yet, to photograph around, and can’t wait to go back again soon! If you’re planning a wedding or would like to do a session in the bay area, I would love to hear from you! :)

Special thanks to Hana Chung for recommending some great spots for a session in SF! :)

       

Round Two in the “Fave Finds” series!

A few weeks ago we took Scott’s mother to San Francisco as a surprise trip for her birthday. The trip was planned beautifully by Scott’s sister Lauren and her fiance Josh (who will be getting married at the spectacular Firestone Vineyard this fall - where I’ll get to be a real-live guest, A GUEST! Dancing and hors d’oeuvres WATCH OUT!!) I have been to San Francisco numerous times from my first visit at age 3, to my last one in 2006 (when I wore flip flops and cursed my bad judgment and frozen toes the entire trip). We always visited the same places. Pier 39. Ghirardelli Square. Ride the cable car, eat the clam chowder, rinse and repeat.

But never to the Ferry Building. It was the first place Lauren and Josh took us and it is now on the top of my list of favorite places in the city. Rows upon rows of the cutest shops selling cheeses, teas, herbs, home decor. A vibrant bustling Farmer’s Market surrounded the outside, where we picked up a delicious breakfast & steaming cups of coffee. I was most enamored with the flowers. How I wished I could bring home a bunch of colorful ranunculus or branch of peach blossoms. (Where can you buy a whole branch from a tree here? Anyone?)

Here’s a bit of what I captured (all taken with the point-and-shoot) in between my shrieks of joy and lamenting of “why don’t we have this in LA?” Can’t wait to return! What are your favorite places in SF?