Engagement Photographer in Santa Cruz

In fall the summer crowds thin out, the sun sits lower in the sky, and the redwoods hold their color. Couples planning a wedding the following year often book a session in these months.

Why the engagement session matters more than it sounds

Almost nobody has been photographed as a couple before their wedding day. An hour or two in front of a camera beforehand changes how the wedding photographs come out — you stop noticing the lens, I learn how you two actually are together, and by the time the day arrives none of it is new. It is the cheapest thing you can do to make your wedding pictures better.

You also get images you will actually use: save-the-dates, your website, the framed one your parents ask for.

Where we shoot

The redwoods

Henry Cowell, Nisene Marks and the groves along Highway 9 are tall and dense, and sit twenty minutes from the coast. The canopy filters the light that reaches the ground.

The coast

West Cliff Drive, Natural Bridges, Seacliff and Rio Del Mar. Open water, low sun, and space to walk rather than pose.

Wine country and the ridges

The hills above Soquel and Corralitos, the vineyards, and the ridge roads with the bay behind you. The ridges face west, over the bay.

Somewhere that is yours

Where you met, where you proposed, the trail you walk every Sunday.

Proposals

If you are planning to propose, I will work out the sightlines with you in advance and shoot the moment from a distance without being obvious about it — then step in afterwards for a proper short session once she knows.

What it costs

Engagement and proposal sessions are $650. That is roughly two hours, professional editing, and a private online gallery with full-resolution downloads.

Wedding coverage is priced separately — the wedding photography packages are here.

The Gold and Platinum wedding collections include an engagement session, so if you are still choosing a wedding photographer it is worth looking at those first — the session is already in there.

Book a session

Serving Santa Cruz, Aptos, Capitola, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey, Carmel and the Bay Area. Send me a rough date and where you are drawn to, and I will tell you what the light does there that week.