Kat & Ryan’s session consisted of a wonderful morning stroll along Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. I loved the casual urban vibe of it all and the little color-filled spots we found along the way. And — although this may sound wacky to say for such a cloudy day — I am utterly head over heels for the light in all of these. So soft and smooth and pretty, and allowing us to shoot in every direction our hearts desired! It started sprinkling right at the end of the session, but Kat & Ryan persevered in the name of good photos saying, “let’s keep shooting a little more”, because they are LE AWESOME.

Completely beside myself with excitement for their wedding at Inn of the Seventh Ray (read: one of my favorite venues IN THE HISTORY OF VENUES) this fall!

On a lovely Sunday afternoon, we met up with Erika & Julian for their engagement session. As I mentioned in my last post, this was the 2nd weekend in a row we shot at the colorful Santa Monica Pier, and I loved the challenge of getting creative with new spots and perspectives. Erika & Julian also brought along something that made their session extra unique – their adorable dog Shep! He was ridiculously cute and so full of energy and I loved photographing all 3 of them!

Erika & Julian will be getting married in …wait for it… New York City next year, and it will mark our first out-of-state wedding! I am honestly SO in love with NYC and hope it will be the first of many amazing weddings there to come! :)

I was so excited when Kelie contacted me for their engagement session! They had not yet set a date or location for their wedding, but wanted to do a session around the colorful Santa Monica Pier. I have shot at the pier quite a few times (this was in fact the first of 2 in 2 weeks!) but I loved the challenge of finding new spots and putting new spins on old ones. And of course, Kelie & Kaare’s personalities and love created a session that was so uniquely them. I adore when a location reflects who a couple is, and I really think the bright pier and the calm beach was THE perfect backdrop for their chill yet ridiculously fun personalities!

My favorite shots of the day? The ones with the cotton candy! In all our SM pier shoots, this was the first where we incorporated this delightful (yet sticky) treat.