For Amy and Tuan’s engagement session, they opted to do a night-time shoot in San Francisco along the Embarcadero and Ferry Building. In the day-time, the San Francisco Embarcadero and Ferry Building is constantly bustling with crowds of people. And those crowds of people can make for great picture elements. But what if you shoot an engagement session on the Embarcadero or inside the Ferry Building…at night…on a Sunday? A crowded and busy metropolitan city seems so much more calm and quiet and then your focus falls onto two beautiful people enjoying each other’s company.

Thanks to Rendy Lai for providing valuable assistance. Photos were taken with a Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II using the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM and Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM.

For those who have never been there, the Palace of Fine Arts is a great backdrop and very popular spot for engagement and wedding photos. The huge rotunda, the beautiful structures, and the large duck lake make for a great photographic background. And so when our beautiful couple, Nga and Adrian, wanted to their engagement photos at the Palace of Fine Arts: Exploratorium, Lynn was all too happy to oblige and these are the results:

Equipment used for this shoot: Nikon D700, Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G, Nikon AF 85mm f/1.4D, Nikon Speedlight SB-900 with snoot and honeycomb.

How did he propose to her? Every year for Christmas, they light the big Christmas tree in Union Square and every year, Wendy and Luis would get a photo in front of the big Christmas tree. And as it was tradition for them as well, they would go eat and celebrate at the Hard Rock Cafe. Well this particular year on Dec 21, Luis had put the engagement ring in her Mango Margarita and Wendy didn’t see it at first and was drinking from it, and she was starting to get a bit tipsy an decided to take one last drink and that’s when she saw it. And you know what’s even extra cute, they celebrate their anniversary on every 21st of the month! Nothing fancy, but some dinner and date night to  let one another know they care. That’s love.

So we started off photographing the e-session at Baker Beach. The weather was beautiful with sunny blue skies and warm without being too warm. I just snapped some casual photos around the beach and then on the beach:

With a couple so in love, I rarely find I have to give much direction, just let them be and let the magic unfold. Afterward, we made our way down to the Embarcadero and Pier 39 to get some more shots.

And here’s a fun shot taken in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, Brenizer Method style night time shot (43 photos stitched):

What a great couple; we had a blast! Certainly looking forward to their wedding in November!  Thank you to Eric Lee for the lighting assist.

Equipment used for this shoot: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM, and Speedlites.

We started out shooting around Main St. in Half Moon Bay with all the beautiful store fronts and along the sidewalk and just working our way up to Half Moon Bay Coffee Co. and across the street at the Welcome to Half Moon Bay sign.

Brenizer Method shot:

We had a couple of other places in mind, but unfortunately due to high-tide, we were unable to photograph there. Our final engagement shoot location was at the beautiful Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay hotel. Around the lobby:

We thought it would be nice to get some casual, unposed shots at the Navio’s bar:

We ended our Half Moon Bay engagement shoot on the beach nearby the Ritz Carlton. Let us say, the water was definitely cold.

Margaret and Ronnie are an amazing couple who work in the pharmaceutical field and met through mutual friends. Spend a minute with these two and you can definitely tell how much fun and in love they are with each other. Every time I’ve met with the couple, we end up chatting it up for hours. Can’t wait to photograph their wedding in October, it’s going to be a blast!

A special thanks to Eric Lee for doing video of this engagement shoot and also to Rendy Lai for the great assist on holding the lighting.

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay
1 Miramontes Point Road
Half Moon Bay, CA
Visit website

Half Moon Bay Coffee Co.
20 Stone Pine Road
Half Moon Bay, CA
(650) 726-3664
Visit website

We started out Ana and Jeff’s engagement session inside the beautiful San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden. This first shot, was actually taken right outside the front entrance before it opened. It was shot with a Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L lens with a Lastolite TriGrip at camera right.

These following shots were taken inside at various locations. I should note that while the Japanese Tea Garden is a gorgeous location, for environmental photography, it’s a nightmare of lighting conditions; lots of great backdrops, but few shaded areas. A majority of the time i was combating the sun with a single flash and/or reflector. And to add insult to injury, there are lots of narrow paths making it difficult to place light stands where you need them and out of frame. Fortunately I had fellow wedding photographer Rendy Lai on assist holding my Syl Arena light stick/pole setup.

Shot with Canon EOS 1D Mark II with Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L with off-camera flash

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L with Lastolite Tri-grip reflector

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L with off-camera flash

Afterward, we took a short trip across the Tea Garden to the Botanical Garden. There are lots of great potential backdrops in here and best thing is that admission is free.

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L with off-camera flash

Ana and Jeff wanted to do some shoots with bamboo and it so happens that the San Francisco Botanical Gardens has a nice bamboo forest, coincidentally located at the Bamboo Pond next to Cloud Forest.

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L with off-camera flash

We then continued photographing the engagement session around Irving Street. These shots were taken at Crepevine, a place that Ana and Jeff frequented while they were dating. One of the hostess was so kind in helping us with reserving an outside table and even going as far a providing us free red velvet cake for some of the shots! Unfortunately I didn’t get her name to properly thank her, sorry!

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L

Shot with Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L with off-camera flash

Rendy and I had a lot of fun with Ana and Jeff and we can’t wait to photograph their wedding in October! You can also see what they think of us by reading their blog here.

We started the engagement shoot on the 32nd floor of the Saint Francis, the Imperial Floor, which is also where Melanie and Wesley’s wedding reception will be held. The Imperial Floor is comprised of two dining rooms: the Alexandra (the larger room) and the Victor. Both dining rooms have large, beautiful windows. Plus being so high-up in San Francisco affords many beautiful sky-scraper shots.

Here are some of the shots in both the Victor Room:

Being a resourceful wedding photographer means being able to find interesting backdrops such as these large wooden Japanese-like Shoji screens:

These images were shot in the Alexandra Room:

Melanie had wanted to get some shots on the “main” stairway, so we took some shots there:

Another tip to being a resourceful wedding photographer is to always keep your eyes peeled and in some cases, you’ll find another backdrop but a foot away:

One of the big things with the Westin Saint Francis is the history and story behind the Magneta Clock. The Magneta Clock itself is in a location that is photographically unappealing, but I still did want to capture the clocks in some manner, shape, or form and settled for the view from the Mezzanine Floor with the large clock in the background:

As an added treat, we managed to get permission to shoot inside the Westin St. Francis’ uber-private and uber-elegant private suites in the Modern Tower. The private suites on the 31st floor features a large comfortable meeting room as well as a beautiful library where we had a bit of fun:

Finally, we took to the streets, right out in front of and around the St. Francis to grab a few frames, and here’s one I’ve selected to showcase:

We definitely had loads of fun photographing this engagement session and can’t wait to return to the Westin Saint Francis for Melanie and Wesley’s Big Day this August!

Also a big thank you to my good friend and fellow photographer, Rendy Lai, for all his help during this engagement shoot.

Nae and Ro’Sean have been dating for four years and originally met in high school as friends. They became better friends at college and the rest is history! The couple are so in love with each other, I can’t wait for the wedding on October 12!

Here are some samples.

So we met up with them and took pictures at a few locations: The Palace of Fine Arts, The Legion of Honor, and Baker Beach. Unfortunately we couldn’t get any pictures of the lovely couple with the dome because the dome is undergoing some maintenance, but we were able to get some really nice shots at The Legion of Honor and Baker Beach.

Myra is a pharmacist with a well known HMO and Ed works in IT for a well known bio-pharmaceutical company. They were introduced to each other at a party by Myra’s uncle’s friend, started dating for awhile and then recently got engaged. They’re getting married in July here in the Peninsula. It was a pleasure working with them as they are a great couple: funny and energetic!

Below are a few samples from the shoot, more samples can be found in our Portfolio. The rest of the photos are password protected here.

[May 20, 2008 UPDATE: I wasn't completely happy with the post processing and so went back and started from scratch. The samples below and the ones in the client gallery are now updated with the changes. I think they came out much better the second time around.]