Before our session, Kathryn, David and I met up for some drinks in San Luis Obispo to get the jitters out. I’ve only skyped with them, so it was nice to get to know them before getting them in front of my lens. Within minutes I knew they were a dream couple. They are kind and warm and totally fun to be around. Their first date was to a Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco and they went camping together within the first month of dating. Kathryn and I overlapped at Cal Poly and she’s from the same hometown (well, Clovis people may not be too happy about me lumping Fresno and Clovis together, but I will for simplicity’s sake). The only bummer about my job is that often the rad people I meet don’t live in San Luis Obispo. Even though they live in DC now, they’re returning to California for a destination wedding at Peppertree Ranch this summer. I started to try to convince them to move to SLO, but it is pretty apparent they love cities. It’s pretty hard to compete with San Francisco and D.C., even if we do have the weather.
We had a plan for our shoot but it also involved a little exploring. What we found after a winding drive was an epic rock with the prettiest rolling hills in the background. I’m also a sucker for tree covered dirt roads so we pulled over a few times on the way toward Avila Beach. Then we ended our session at Pirate’s Cove, which gets a little more sketchy each time I visit (and not because of the nude beach!), but still makes for the most consistently gorgeous sunset photos.
They sealed the deal on my excited when they told me about the other vendors they hired. I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in July and to see the beautiful celebration they create.
For photographers: Shot on a Nikon D750, Nikon 50mm 1.4, Sigma Art 24mm 1.4, & Nikon 85mm 1.4. Processed with VSCO Portra 400 as a base and finished is Alien Skin Exposure for grain, sharpness and curves.
