This engagement session has everything but the kitchen sink! But it has a bathtub, so pretty much. Chickens! Doggies! Even flamingos! (The decorative kind.) All of those amazing things are in Chandra and David’s magical backyard. They are so adorable and in love. I can not wait for their wedding.

We also made a stop around the corner to Hopscotch for a cocktail.

Hair and Makeup by Sarah at Ooo La La.

I have become obsessed with Flamingos so I was excited that Chandra is a collector.

Lauren + Teddy are such a fun loving couple! I adore how much they laugh and have a good time together. They live on the east coast and will have a destination wedding in California come November. On a boat!

We started with coffee, then wine and they went to Sushi after the shoot. So pretty much a perfect day.

I’d like to take credit for the idea of doing a sunrise session but we shot that early because Nikki + AJ are so busy with life that it was the only time we could all find. (Nikki even went to work right after this.) We were still extremely excited to do this and I love how it turned out!

What I learned from my first sunrise session:
1. Sunrise is exactly like sunset except earlier.
2. The light comes from the other direction.
3. Sidecar and most other places don’t open before 6:30am. Lucky for me, good ole Seaside Bakery is open 24 hours with donuts and coffee ready to go. (I’ve had their ham and cheese croissant at 2am many a time. It’s delicious.)
4. People are so nice. They say things like “good morning!” and smile at you.

I also learned that if you set your amazing vintage Mexican blanket down for literally three minutes on top of a meter that it will be gone when you realize you left it there. Three. Minutes.

Nikki’s a little shorter than AJ.

I fell in love with early morning light.

Here’s one of my favorite shots from my first ever sunrise session! More coming soon.

We chose Downtown Santa Ana as our backdrop since it’s Owen + Maggie’s hood. With the cloudy day we had and how they were dressed, it gave us the perfect city vibe. I’ve always wanted to do a shoot there and they let me do whatever I wanted (thanks guys).

Owen ordered not one, not two, but three drinks at Gypsy Den (they were out of all three) and the whole thing took a whole hour for just one drink. It was pretty comical and they were super good sports about it. And I forgive Gypsy Den since we got some cool shots out of it.

So excited for their wedding in Joshua Tree in this Saturday!