It's an interesting experience photographing friends that I've known forever. Sometimes the familiarity helps put the couples at ease, and sometimes it goes the opposite way and the couple starts off shy. No to worry with Ivy and Scott though, as their silliness came out in no time.
Engagement session in Coto de Caza and Dana Point.
Dana Point, California.
We met Jennifer and Andy down at the Dana Point Harbor because Jennifer's parents used to live around there. I haven't been down there for a shoot so I was quite excited.
They were as friendly and fun as I had expected from our email exchanges. The shoot went by so fast because again, as we do with a lot of our awesome clients, we have so much fun just sharing stories about each other during the session. Jennifer told me afterward that we made them feel very comfortable, and that makes me so happy because that's one of the keys to getting the best looking photos.
We strolled around the harbor with the beautiful boats and headed over to the beach and park next door. Jennifer and Andy are going to be too modest to admit this, but they are one good looking couple!
Andy said that he loves black and white photos, and since I haven't really been able to show a lot of my black and whites here, this is a good opportunity to display them. It's a completely different type of editing when it comes to black and white. The control of shadows, midtones, and highlights are extremely important, as well as the handling of the different color channels. I am pleased at how it turned out.
Dana Point, CA.
We met Melani and Ben at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point. They were having a drink at the bar when we showed up. That's a good way to relax for a shoot! Melani wanted to showcase a beautiful blue sari and the glamorous Ritz-Carlton was a great location to match.
My favorite shot of the series is the one where Melani is spinning with her Sari. I love it because she was just acting silly and wasn't really posing so it has a candid feel to it.
After we were done with the formals, we got comfy and headed down to the beach for a little more fun.
