Tracy & Charles’ Engagement: San Francisco Botanical Gardens

Tracy and Charles have been good friends of my wife and I for over a year, which made this engagement session a blast for me. Watching their relationship develop has been really exciting for us and we’ve hoped they would get engaged long before they were ready to take the leap themselves.  There’s something about taking pictures for people I know well that both completely freaks me out and causes me to produce some of my best work. I have really high expectations of myself every time I shoot, but this only gets doubly augmented when I know the couple. Charles had the fantastic idea of going to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens which turned out to be an amazing location for an engagement shoot. We had one of San Francisco’s best days of the year, where the fog didn’t role in and we had beautiful light for over 2 hours of shooting.  I can’t wait for their wedding in Saratoga in September!

I love the way the way they relax with each other, and are just so comfortable being close to each other. I think closeness is beautiful.

At the Botanical Gardens we wondered through the trees looking for patches of light. Once we found one, I just couldn’t stop shooting.
And not only did we find cool light, but we also found mist… thanks to the afternoon sprinklers at the Botanical Gardens. I’m all for that grass getting watered! Everything is just so green, and the colors in the afternoon shade explode vibrancy.

We found this funky structure, maybe something out of Jurassic Park?

Tracy is going to be an absolutely stunning bride! So by now you may have realized that Tracy and Charles have everything that inspires me to shoot weddings.

Their delight in each other, their playfulness, and the tenderness they care for each other with is all just magnificent.

I could not decide between these last two shots. I love them both for different reasons. The black and white silhouette is just such a bold image, but the color of the evening sky and the tenderness of their touch really stands out in the second. Which do you like more? You guys inspire me, can’t wait for September!