A couple weeks ago I drove down to sunny San Diego for a fun shoot with this super sweet couple! I love shooting in San Diego.. the drive down is so gorgeous and relaxing, with the sparkly sea lining the left side of the highway, and as I enter the city, I automatically feel a couple ounces of stress magically float away (I also feel an immediate craving for carne asada fries, but that’s a whole other blog post).

N & T were married a couple years ago (they’ve been together for over 10 years!) but didn’t do an engagement session then, and decided to set up a similar session now :) I am a huge fan of “just because” sessions and believe that any time is the perfect time to get lovely photos of yourself! A cheery bunch of balloons & their adorable pup {and the amazing amazing light} added an extra dose of fun into the session.. :)

When we first meet up with our couples for their engagement session, we always start by catching up a bit, chatting about the wedding, and then going over a quick description of how engagement sessions usually flow – that I’ll be giving some direction, but the ultimate goal is to capture you, the two of you, in your natural element being your totally awesome natural selves. And at the end of this recap, almost every time, the super sweet and beyond adorable couple claims that they’re horribly bad with photos. And every time, they go on to totally rock and make my camera fall madly in love with them :)

Jaenee & A were no exception. I met with Jaenee last year over gelato-filled mochi and she was one of the first clients to book me for 2009. Jaenee was so warm and so excited about her wedding, and had such trust in my photography, which meant the world to me, especially at that time when I was still somewhat of a newbie. On a sunny Sunday afternoon last month, I drove down to Seaport Village in San Diego to meet up with Jaenee & A for their engagement session. And as I mentioned before, their inspirational love and fun personalities made them so easy to work with. They’re getting married in just 2 (yes 2!) days in San Diego and we are beyond giddy with excitement to see them again soon!

Jaenee & A have this phenomenal coordinated walk that they do. Love it!

Scott captured the next one – love that juicy light!

After a change of clothes (check out that fabulous dress.. and the shoes, the shoes!), we headed to the San Diego Convention Center for a few more photos:

Loved this aqua wall. And don’t pockets on dresses make them that much more perfect?

I would have loved to take credit for this cute shot, but it was all their idea! :)

We finished up with some shots in the garage & fun with off-camera lighting…

I love when you meet someone and instantly feel that “click.” The conversation just flows, you’re totally on the same wavelength, you bond over a love of tea lattes, or silly reality shows, or of course, weddings :) I felt the much-coveted click the first time Jenn and I spoke in a phone conversation. Her warm and bubbly personality and excitement about her wedding day was absolutely contagious and I was so excited when she booked me right over the phone! This past weekend I drove down to San Diego to meet Jenn and her fiance Ron for the first time. It was a delight to find that they are both so open and down-to-earth and most of all such troopers – the temperatures were a raging 95 degrees that day but you could never tell from their relaxed smiles and warm laughs.

They had originally wanted to do the session at Balboa Park, but an Earth Day celebration meant hoards of people and impossible parking. Instead we headed to Coronado which proved to be the perfect alternative!

Isn’t Jenn just gorgeous?

Ron is quite dapper himself:

Jenn has a background in dance – look at those moves!

The light was just perfect…

We then headed to North Park to wrap up the session:

Jenn & Ron – thank you for enduring the temps and for a wonderful afternoon! Can’t wait until your wedding in Santa Barbara next month!