When we were planning their engagement session, Clair & Paul sent me an amazing list of locations that had both the photographer and the LA-lover in me just bubbly with excitement. We had all the spots set, but a few days before the session I had a random Family-Guy-type flashback that took me to a beautiful field of wildflowers, with LA’s skyscrapers on the horizon, silhouetting the sky. I was first introduced to the lovely location by Serena Grace – we had shot together there earlier in the month along the park’s rolling hills and on the drive out, I had caught a glimpse of some bright yellow and purple blooms.

I mentally shuffled it away in my “I want to shoot THERE!!” list and when it popped back into my head, I knew the time had come :) I immediately emailed Clair & Paul and was so elated to hear that they were totally on board with throwing the location in the mix! I’m so happy we were able to spend some time there – they worked those wildflowers like no other!

Afterwards we headed back to their fantastic apartment to finish up the day…

Isn’t there just something terribly romantic about rooftops? Add a so-in-love couple and a fabulous cityscape in the background and you have the dreamiest of scenarios!

This last shot was 100% their idea and I can’t stress how much I LOVE it! They dubbed it the “Dolce & Gabbana” shot and it’s definitely ones of my favs from the session!

I first met with Clair and Paul in a cozy cafe below Clair’s loft apartment, nestled in a tall brick building in the heart of Downtown LA’s Arts District. We brainstormed engagement ideas, and they explained to me how they would love to do the session in the neighborhood right around the apartment, where they shared so many days and countless memories together. As we continued to plan the session through email they added in a few additional locations in downtown LA that were sentimental to them, including the very building itself. Worn wooden floors, an antique elevator, a rooftop that showcased LA’s brilliant skyline – the building was straight out of a classic movie and provided the perfect backdrop for Clair & Paul’s session (and had me nothing short of giddy with excitement!)

Clair and Paul – thank you for running around downtown with us and sharing your favorite spots in the city. There are so many moments to share, so please enjoy Part I for now!

I could have shot by these bougainvillea blossoms all day! And isn’t Clair’s headband just perfect?

After shooting some around their apartment, we headed to the 4th Street Bridge:

Scott grabbed this shot on the walk down:

We returned to their apartment to change outfits and hit up a couple more locations! Part II to come soon, including a fabulous wildflower field smack-dab in the middle of the city and a visit to the rooftop!

I remember when I attended the first Furious Photographers workshop. Boy was I excited. But I was also nervous. I was fidgety. I had more than a couple butterflies milling around inside of me. After all, I was as newbie as newbie gets.

Fast forward a bit to the 2nd Furious Photographers workshop and just a few things have changed. I came this time with a better knowledge of my camera. A couple more lenses. A few more memory cards. A cool bag to hold it all in. And though I still had a bit of that nervous-excited feeling in my tummy I also felt this awesome reassuring calm that hey, these are a bunch of cool dudes. Dudes who don’t mind that I am a newbie – who in fact embrace my newbieness (and everyone else’s newbieness) and kindly show us the ropes. Fun, helpful dudes who led an awesome first workshop and a top-of-the-notch 2nd one as well!!

For this one we met at their killer home studio and learned some of the business side of wedding photography before heading off on an awesome shoot in downtown LA. Gavin of Gavin Photography led us to an explosion of rainbow colors… I can’t believe I never knew this place existed! After shooting there we went back to the studio and covered some post-processing techniques. Fun and informative, doesn’t get much better than that!

A big thank you to Andrew and Megan – the gorgeous models who could not take a bad picture if they tried their darndest, to Peter for referring them, and All Made Up for their dazzling make-up and hair artistry. And of course to the FP team for an amazing day!

Aren’t they both gorgeous?

And now for a few behind-the-scenes photos…

Doug in the studio:





Lawrence demonstrates:



The Furious Photographers setting up the shots… they make great models too!





Kevin keeps one eye out for traffic:



With Tawny!



At the end of the day the Furious Photographers took a quick group photo! See the final result on their blog: