There were winners and losers throughout the day and our time with them was absolutely fun filled.  We were escorted to the ‘Winner’s Circle’ at Golden Gate Fields, where we were as close to the track and the horses as anyone could be.  Hearing the galloping of the beautiful horses charging toward the finish line was enough to get anyone excited.

Emily, Stephen and their guests were in full racing attire.  It was a photographers dream to have such styled characters and willing subjects.

The racing day was a perfect introduction for us to get to know many of the people that would be attending their wedding the following day (which we will be showing you soon!).

Jen and Greg meet about a year ago in San Rafael and Greg asked Jen to marry him at China Camp (the location below). Congrats to you both and I hope your wedding in Maine is a huge success. Thanks Jen and Greg for a great day.

We met Vanessa and Bill at The Legion of Honor, where they are members and frequent often.

We told them to dress ‘smart’ and we would photograph them in some of their favorite areas of the museum.  We had never had an engagement session in the museum before, so we were very excited about the idea of shooting here.  It was a challenge, only in that the museum was SO quiet and we like to converse with our couples as we are photographing.  Imagine photographing someone and only being able to whisper to them.  It was a little new to us, but we still had a lot of fun with them.

After our ‘quiet time’ in the museum, we moved out to the courtyard, where you walk right up to Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’.  It was a welcome relief to be able to speak normally and get a little more intimate with them.  We opened a bottle of wine (Thank you Vanessa and Bill!) and continued our portrait session.  The columns and white marbled walls created a beautiful backdrop.

We ended the day at one of our favorite spots in San Francisco, Baker Beach.  So many of our couples want their photograph taken in front of the Golden Gate Bridge or they want San Francisco represented in some fashion.  What a wonderful way to capture this by walking the beach in the late afternoon, in the wake of the towering bridge, while waves are continuously crashing on the enormous rocks below.  We picked another stunning day to photograph these two beautiful people.  We can’t wait for their wedding in November!

While Matt was in Tennessee and Michigan for his brothers wedding, Garrett flew back to the Bay Area to meet with Erin and Simon for their engagement photo shoot.

They began at Battery Spencer in the Marin Headlands where they spent some time around the old military bunkers and Golden Gate Bridge.  Then they drove down to a secluded area in the Headlands called Upper Fisherman’s Beach and then ended their day at Baker Beach with a gorgeous sunset.  As you can see from the images, they had a great time together!

This is now the second time that we have completed an album like this with Laura at FMN Design… A guest book filled with images from an engagement session with a couple. What a great idea, don’t you think?! It sure beats the traditional ‘sign your name in this blank book’ style that you continually see at weddings. Take a look at this guest book that we just completed for Liz and Paul. Laura incorporated about 40 of our favorite images with enough blank space to allow the guests to write anything, anywhere in the book. We just love it! Thanks Laura!

Oh, and Asuka printed and bound the album… We like them too!

Here are a few more images from a previous post.