I am currently in Costa Mesa, CA, with my wife who is traveling on the National Tour of 42nd Street. Sarah is also on the tour with my wife, and she had told me about wanting to get engagement photos done in California when her fiancé Layne was visiting her here.
On the day before the engagement shoot, my wife and I went to scout out some locations. We checked out Crystal Cove State Park--it was a quiet beach with beautiful cliffs overlooking the ocean. The beach was mostly empty, which was really great. I can only imagine how hard it'd be for couples to have authentically intimate moments when surrounded by strangers. The lack of people in the background also keeps the focus on the engaged couple, so we really liked the location.
We also went to check out Balboa Pier. Layne proposed to Sarah on a swing set in Central Park and he told us that there were swing sets at the pier. When we got to the pier, Layne and Sarah had been checking out the place as well, and I wanted to grab couple photos of them under the pier.
Then the funniest thing happened:
My personal favorite.
We ended up getting some more photos from the pier.
On the actual engagement shoot, we went to Crystal Cove State Park about an hour before sunset. The California sunshine was a bit too strong right when we got there, so we went towards the cave at the end of the park that provided us a nice shade with beautiful soft light falling on them.
As the sun started to go further down, we captured some awesome photos on the beach.
Loved the texture of water here.
After the shoot, I wanted to give them a private moment to soak up the beautiful scenery in front of them.
Often times the best shots happen right at the end of the shoot, and this happened:
Sarah, Layne, and I had a great time capturing their love for each other and excitement about their upcoming wedding. Congratulations on your engagement and happy planning!
If you are engaged and interested in working with me, please let me know! I am available to travel for weddings and engagement sessions.