I was so excited when Jerry and Sam invited me along to Hawaii for their engagement session! They knew they wanted to do a destination session from the start, and were considering NYC {where they had lived for a few years & had many fond memories}, but after a bit of brainstorming, decided on someplace that would totally contrast that busy urban city vibe – Moloka’i! They had a friend (hi Boki!) who lives on the small island and had been encouraging them to visit, so it turned out to be a perfect collection of reasons to fly over (in the tiniest little plane you could think of)!

I would imagine most anywhere in Hawaii would be amazing for photos, but there was something extra special about the serene quiet and remoteness of Moloka’i. We drove from one end of the island to the other, just pulling over whenever we saw a pretty spot for photos – a coconut grove, a smattering of bougainvillea, a wide sandy beach – and at every location, we were essentially the only people there! It was so perfectly relaxing and wonderful, and this session fit Jerry and Sam and their relationship to a T – they are the type of amazing people who love to explore, who thoroughly enjoy life, who adore new experiences but find beauty in the simple and everyday.

I was so happy to document a piece of their continuous adventure together, in such a beautiful place :)

How completely sweet are these two? I was so happy when Kristen found me from Tori & Kate’s session, and planned a fun lifestyle shoot as a surprise for her girlfriend Michelle. We brainstormed ways to incorporate little aspects of their relationship – like their love for books, and the sweet notes they write to each other on coffee cups – and finished up the session with a few rounds at the ice skating rink!

I felt a bit emotional as I was going through and editing these photos – the love these two have for each other was in each and every image, and I seriously feel so lucky to have been able to capture a snippet of it, and to be able to share them openly here. I felt this extra strong sense of I want people to see these photos. I want them to see this love, the kind of love that comes in all shapes and forms, that is honest and innocent and real and unstoppable. That it is such a beautiful thing :)

On a sunny spring day last year, I flew up to and back from Napa, and in the middle, photographed this amazing session at the French Laundry gardens.

But let’s start from the beginning shall we? Steph and Bruce are both big foodies and really wanted to incorporate this shared passion for food into their engagement session. After some brainstorming, they arranged for us to photograph at the beautiful gardens of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry restaurant {year after year named one of the best restaurants in the world}. The French Laundry grows much of its own produce in a vegetable garden across from their restaurant, and it was a treat wandering through the open gardens photographing this sweet couple. Aside from vibrant flowers and veggies they brought to add color to the session (adore!), they had a handful of pretty macarons — they have special memories of sharing these together in Paris, where they were engaged, as well as baking their own versions (amazing!) at home.

I could go on and on about the loveliness of this session, and how much fun Steph and Bruce are, and how we talked about food all day long, and how we laughed & chatted more over dinner at Bouchon, and how it all makes my heart want to explode into a million pieces of happy confetti, but I’m going to let the images do the talking. Enjoy this afternoon stroll in the garden… :)

{ Thank you to Style Me Pretty for featuring this session on their California blog! You can see the post here… }