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… }

Happy new year! Here’s a lovely wintery beach session to start off your 2013! How lucky are we here in so cal that we can visit the beach year round? And how lucky are Emily and Cody that they live just a few blocks from the shore? We shot their engagement session along the beach in Hermosa, the same spot where he proposed :)

I know it’s been quiet here on the blog over the holidays, but I’ve been lining up lots of sweet weddings and sessions to share, so stay tuned! :)