It was an overcast day in November. I was sitting cross-legged on my bed in my San Francisco hotel room, laptop by my side, on the phone with the sweetest writer who was putting together an article for Professional Photographer magazine. When I hung up the phone I’m pretty sure a fervent pinching session ensued. Because seriously? Phone interview? Really? Me?

I absolutely love engagement sessions and it is an honor to be included in an article in the February issue, regarding ways to keep sessions fun and unique. I get asked from time to time regarding using props to personalize sessions – who brings them, how we decide what to use, etc. and I was excited to share a little about my experiences in this article. You can download the full story here. A very big thank you to to Rebecca Zoumberos for passing my name along initially, and to Stephanie Boozer for chatting with me, putting my rambly rambly thoughts into coherent sentences, and conveying what I meant to say so eloquently :)

For the second part of Joann + Donald’s session {see part I here!}, we headed down to the beach to chase the last of the afternoon’s golden light. They brought along a bunch of the prettiest pastel balloons – I’ve done quite a few fun balloon sessions & I know we’ve all seen lots of lovely versions on the interwebs, but I loved Joann & Donald’s idea to place them around in the sand for a different look. Pops of color galore!

A big thank you to Love and Lavender for featuring their session!

A lovely hand-painted straw heart, a sweet picnic, dainty tea cups, puzzle pieces {from a puzzle they started on their very first date!}… there are quite a few words that could describe this detail-filled engagement session, but the first that comes to mind is…

EPIC.

So epic, in fact, that it had to be split into two posts, the second which I guarantee is filled with as much epic-ness as the first. I feel like I’m always being blown away by the creativity of my couples and their desire to incorporate personal & colorful tidbits into their weddings and engagement sessions – and Joann and Donald are no exception!

So excited for their amazing Langham wedding this weekend!