Seniors · Melanie + Michelle

Met up with Melanie and Michelle on an overcast Sunday afternoon, only to have the skies part right as our senior portrait photoshoot had commenced -- how fortunate we were! Because most students typically choose to have their graduation photos taken at either their respective school campus or the Golden Gate Bridge, Melanie and Michelle decided to go for the Embarcadero this time around. While the Embarcadero is still a very touristy and sought-after location, it's surely a lot more low-key than the Golden Gate Bridge (or even the Bay Bridge, at that) for photos, and definitely allowed their photos to stand out from what people are typically used to seeing. One thing I truly enjoy about portraiture is the fact that an otherwise "common" or "cliche" photo location can instantly become that much more interesting whenever it's not intended as the main focal point in an image. Melanie and Michelle definitely have bright futures ahead of them, and I wish them both an early congratulations for graduating from the University of San Francisco with their Bachelor's degrees one semester early!

Engagement · Laura + Peter

Having known Laura and Peter since our high school days (SHCP Class of 2011, represent!), I was thrilled to find out about their engagement on social media, and even more thrilled weeks after to hear from them asking if I could take their engagement photos! I was truly honored. After much communication, as soon as we knew it, we found ourselves in San Francisco on a partially cloudy day, ready to take their engagement photos. Laura described it as "surreal", and that's pretty much how the entire photoshoot felt -- surreal, given that she will be marrying her high school sweetheart. The reality is, Laura and Peter allowed each other to grow not only together, but individually as well, complimenting each other through all of these years and learning to love each other's imperfections.

One of my favorite parts about this shoot, in particular, is how comfortable we were all with each other from the moment we met up, despite having not seen each other since graduating high school. Sure, I feel that I'm typically very good when it comes to making people feel comfortable with me and giving reassurance (it's my job, after all!), especially when I'm taking their photos, but the mere fact that Laura, Peter, and I already had a history together definitely made this shoot a memorable one. 

Wedding · Tania + Jarin

Had the pleasure of photographing Tania and Jarin's vineyard wedding in none other than the beautiful Sonoma wine county, alongside Rolo Tanedo (@dunksrnice). From a personal standpoint, one thing that I was able to take most from Tania and Jarin's wedding was the sincerity and compassion behind their voices and actions as they were reciting their vows during the wedding ceremony. They both told little short stories about how they couldn't exactly pinpoint the first time they fell in love with each other, respectively, however it was merely due to the fact that moment after moment, they found themselves falling in love with each other over and over and over again. Tears filled the air, with the body language of their guests being just as emotional as their own, making for a very memorable wedding ceremony. Rightfully so, Tania and Jarin's special day was filled with love and inspiration - from beginning to end.

Personal · A Weekend For The Books

When two out of three days during the weekend give you beautiful, unexpected sunsets, on top of catching up with some good friends – both old and new – it would almost seem foolish not to blog about it. On Friday (10/7), I was able to meet a good buddy of mine that I’ve known on Instagram for quite some time now (Garret @shortstache), along with his friends that he was traveling with (Justin @j.scud & Andrew @andrewkkillinger). Xavier (@xavier_sandiego) & I met up with them at Battery Godfrey and before the sun began to set, made the quick hike down to Marshall’s Beach. Great conversations were had, great views were taken in, and great photographs were created. It had been quite some time that I’d seen a sunset this beautiful in San Francisco, as well, so this was a truly pleasant surprise. It’s always a breath of fresh air meeting up with like-minded individuals and sharing about dreams and aspirations. As the night came to a close, I definitely drove back more inspired than I had been in a while.

Going off of Friday’s wonderful sunset, Sunday (10/9) didn’t disappoint either. For about a week now, I had planned to catch sunset and grab dinner with Brittany (@brittalvarezz) and Kiersten (@kierstenahbug), two good friends of mine from college that I don’t get to see too often after having graduated USF in 2015. Brittany was visiting from SoCal, so it was definitely a priority to see her and hang out for at least a little bit. As I left to pick up Brittany and Kiersten, a ton of fog had already begun to roll into the city. I then thought to myself if our initial sunset location of China Beach wouldn’t be the best idea, and quickly checked a webcam of the Golden Gate Bridge to see how much fog had actually rolled in. To my astonishment, there was a low fog event going on at the Golden Gate Bridge, and as soon as I picked up Brittany and Kiersten, we headed straight for the Marin Headlands. It can often times be a bit of a gamble when trying to capture photos of a low fog event, due to high-speed winds which sometimes results in the fog obscuring the view of the bridge completely, but this one couldn’t have gone any better.  It’s almost as if the fog wanted us to take photos of it, because we left the Marin Headlands more stoked than ever, with some awesome memories to boot. Top it off with some pizza to end the night, definitely making this a weekend for the books!

*Hope you all enjoyed the influx of Golden Gate Bridge photos for this blog post – can’t ever get enough of it!