Though Chelsea and Matt live on the east coast now, she used to live in the Bay Area and he’d fly out to visit often. On a trip to Tennessee together a few weeks ago, Matt secretly asked Chelsea’s parents for permission, and then waited for the perfect moment to ask her for her hand in marriage — with the ring that he had been hiding for two months. Great timing too, because she really wanted to have her engagement photos taken here in San Francisco, where the couple shared many fond memories, and they had a trip coming up. [ read more … ]

Frances and Chris were such a sweet couple! They met in college and moved to San Francisco together a few years ago, and Chris proposed less than a month ago!

For the engagement session, we started off right where they got engaged, in the Marin Headlands overlooking Rodeo Beach and the Pacific Ocean. The endless weeks of winter rain this year meant that when it came time for us to shoot, there were rolling hills with endless fields of flowers waiting for us in every direction! [ read more … ]

Richard and I had talked a lot about his proposal plan and what was going to happen: he and Cheramie would hike to the top of Slackers Hill where I’d be waiting with my assistant, they’d have a few moments to themselves before he proposed, then we’d all try to race over to a romantic sunset dinner before, well, the sunset.

Oh, how I was caught off guard. [ read more … ]

Black Sands Beach is a serene, peaceful beach nestled at the base of the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco. Despite its beautiful, fine sandy composition, its perfect position right at the inlet to the San Francisco Bay, and its great view of both the city and of nature, this beach is one of the quietest in the Bay Area. It’s a sizable beach, but has a relaxed, intimate feel because of how empty it usually is. I didn’t even know about this place until Spencer told me, and I’m very glad he did! [ read more … ]

Slackers Hill is the tallest hill in the Marin Headlands facing the Golden Gate Bridge from the north, and consequently has an absolutely spectacular view of the entire area, including nearly the entire city of San Francisco, along with the Bay Bridge, Oakland, and parts of Sausalito. Its peak (elevation ~930 feet) has a small, flat plateau featuring amazing sights in every direction.

This is a place I’ve personally always wanted to visit, so even though I was supposed to be taking a break from work this December, when Jordan contacted me to capture his surprise engagement proposal there I knew I had to make it work. [ read more … ]