California Love: Engagement
I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Kevin’s cousin’s engagement session while I was in LA! Sammie & Bret met at UCLA so it was an easy location choice. I loved capturing their love in their familiar stomping grounds! I touched down in SoCal that morning and of course, brought the rain with me. It dumped all day long, and everyone kept telling me how unusual it was for LA. Luckily, Sammie & Bret trusted me 100% and didn’t even seem to need the reassurance I gave them. “I’m a pro a shooting in the rain! I’m from Seattle!”
Miracle of miracles the sun did peek out for a little bit, and the rain let up long enough for us to shoot the majority of their engagement session outside. I fell in love with side of the music building – bright orange geometric backdrop with luscious succulents in the foreground. The color pallet went perfectly with Sammie’s dress and filled my California bucket full of inspiration. Sometimes it’s the spots that you least expect that give you the most creativity!
Photographing Height Differences
As you can tell, Sammie & Bret have a pretty significant height difference. 17 inches to be exact. While this can be challenging, a lot of poses actually work great with a big height difference. Bret could easily wrap his arms around her from behind, and forehead kisses were a synch. Seated poses also work great to minimize the distance between their faces. I’m all about capturing love & connection during engagement sessions, and this is their unique story!
LA Adventures
Sammie & Bret did a whirl-wind of a job showing me the sites around their neighborhood. We ate lunch at Mendicino Farms and got Sidecar Doughnuts. Basically it was my mission to eat my way through LA. After their session we got sushi hand rolls at KazuNori & strolled around Abbot Kinney Boulevard. I’m pretty sure most things on this street were made simply to be Instagramed. (Guilty.) Incase you haven’t been following along on Instagram, I am currently on a mission to visit a Salt & Straw in every city they have locations: Seattle, Portland, LA, San Diego & San Francisco. Sammie & Bret were kind enough to oblige my quest in LA. So far the tally is 4/5 and I’m hoping to check San Francisco off my list this weekend! Sammie joked that we did as many “LA” things in one day that they would maybe do in a month, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
The Real Story of How They Met
Bret was helping facilitate call backs for his a capella group & Sammie walked in, nervous as a wreck. She crushed it, of course, and the two became friends over the coming months. It wasn’t until Bret became Sammie’s Secret Santa that he finally confessed his feelings for her, and the rest is history! Bret is now the director of the music department at UCLA & we were able to sneak into the exact room where they met. This is the kind of stuff that gives me all the feels, friends.
Congratulations, Sammie & Bret! I can’t wait to attend your wedding next spring!!
