The weather in Santa Monica today couldn’t have been any better for my engagement photo shoot with Erica and Jake. We had a blast playing the carnival games, listening to a reggae band, and watching some pretty cool street performers. It was the kind of day people who live outside of Los Angeles envision Santa Monica to be. While it took a half hour to find parking, the delayed start time to our shoot was worth it. As was the $12 purchase for a balloon I used for one of the more conceptual photos. Erica and Jake were naturals in front of the camera, which made my job fairly easy.

I wasn’t sure if I was on a day-cation with some friends in Santa Barbara or on an engagement shoot. Either way, I had a blast. At one point we saw a fish backdrop at the zoo and immediately I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I asked that they summon their inner fish. They nailed it.

We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo after hours; we rode a carousel that the ride operator touted as being faster than most; and we walked along the pier. Not bad for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

This engagement shoot was, I imagine, kind of like a tour of Valencia for Ashley and David, considering they are from Orange. We shot in front of the University Center at College of the Canyons, the hills to the right of the college, and then finally at Central Park. When I had these locations in mind I was thinking how these photos would look next to each other – the cool colors of the college next to the more natural settings of the park and oak trees.

Once or twice a year for the past 4 and a half years or so I have traveled to New York State to visit my wife’s family and stay in their cabin. Inevitably I have to explain to my friends that “No, I’m not going to New York City. I’m going to the part of New York where there are more cows than people, and more tractors and ski doos than cars.” I have to say though, for a couple of weeks a year, I really enjoy it.

That brings us to the photo shoot part of this blog. Adam, my brother-in-law, is recently engaged. I knew that I wanted to contribute my skills and thought our travels to northern New York would present a great opportunity to capture some awesome engagement pictures. Mary, his fiancée, agreed. There were way too many places that I wanted to shoot, so we basically picked one road and if we saw something we liked, we stopped. I could have shot there another week. We shot primarily in a town called Malone, known as “The Star of the North”. Its downtown looks like it has remained untouched since 1906. The only drawback were the bugs. My wife, as well as the rest of her family, make fun of me for my phobia of flying bugs. In fact, I even argued my position of flying bugs vs. non flying bugs.

Fillmore is a very eclectic town; we shot on Central Avenue. Between the old train station that had absolutely no security and the theater that looks like a piece of the set from Back to the Future, it offered so many possibilities. And the best part of all, no one seemed to care that we were taking pictures. Actually the town was kind of empty when I think about it. Nevertheless, I think the images are full of life, thanks to Anamarie and Chris.

Anamarie and Chris brought a few props, some edible and some not. Apparently Walmart is the place to go if you’re looking for all things picnic.

Vasquez Rocks is located in Agua Dulce, CA. This famous rocky landscape has been featured in hundreds of different TV shows and movies. That said, I thought it would be a great backdrop for an engagement session. It’s one of those places that I wonder why I haven’t gone there more often.

My engagement sessions always seem to be 2 parts photography and 1 part hiking. Nick and Breanna hiked right along with Josiah and I as we looked for different locations. It was well worth it.

Santa Clarita offers a lot of great places to shoot. Until yesterday I had really never photographed up Placerita canyon. My only previous experiences have been either hiking there or going on a field trip there in second or third grade. It was great! Not surprisingly we saw another photographer shooting some family portraits. I’m pretty sure that our pictures turned out better.

Jamie and James really never had taken professional pictures before. However, the pictures tell a different story. I just set them up in different poses and they did the rest.

Towsley Canyon is a great park that my family and I frequent. It has miles of trails and during this time of the year everything is alive and green. I told Tracey and Matt to wear comfortable shoes as we would be doing a lot of walking. About a half mile in we arrived at our first location. The light was perfect. I probably could have spent the better part of a day taking pictures, but I don’t think they would have appreciated that.

Tracey and Matt towards the end of the shoot mentioned to me that they are use to having basically one picture of them together just over and over again and in different locations. Here at Towlsey Canyon we were able to achieve the opposite.

Danielle and Ben are animal people so what better place to do engagement pictures then the Santa Barbara Zoo. We had a great time going from exhibit to exhibit in between which would be mini photo sessions. The only thing that was a challenge was pretending that no one was watching us. But by the end of our 3 hours there we were willing to do whatever it took to get great images.

As as a side note Ben, Danielle and I thought it was interesting how we could spot zoo employees from 100 yards away and even if they had been in their civilian clothes. They just have a certain essence about them that we were intrigued by to say the least.

Heidi and Rocky are getting married at Calamigos Equestrian Center which is where my wife and I were married way back in 2008. That said, it’s going to be a great experience being able to capture their wedding from the perspective of having been married there myself.

We photographed up Bouquet Canyon Rd. in Saugus. I have shot here a couple of times, but every time I go I find something new. Rocky and Heidi were troppers; they were willing to try whatever crazy idea I had. Whether it was navigating our way through slippery boulders or having them lie down in deep grass hidden in which was most likely a whole ecosystem, they were game.