BeccaStudios.com (theblog)

Gia & Ken Part 2 - Santa Cruz Engagement Session

So here is part 2 of Gia & Kens totally awesome and spectacular engagement session! After our fun adventures in downtown Santa Cruz, we decided to head over to Wilder Ranch for a different environment. It was such a pleasure to photograph these two! They both are so fun, easy going, and so very obviously in love with each other! I can't wait to photograph their wedding next year!

This one was definitely one of my favorites....

 

Are these guys freaking adorable or what?

 

 

Even though the tall fields had been recently mowed (boo), the grass lawns were such a gorgeous bright green (yay!)!!

 

I want to send a special thank you to Gia & Ken for making this portrait session such a fun experience! You guys were such a blast to work with!  I had a great time photographing you both, and I can't wait to photograph your wedding next year!!

Gia & Ken engagement session (part 1)

Ok....so I was going to start doing some posts on weddings from throughout this season (that I fell behind on due to my own wedding, which will also be posted soon). They're from the last couple months, so I know that in theory I should be posting about those to catch myself up blog-wise. But I just uploaded a superawesomeandamazing engagement session gallery from a shoot I photographed just a couple weeks ago, and I'm so excited about it I just HAD to post about it! I know you understand....

Gia and Ken are getting married next year at the oh-so-fabulous Hollins House (great views, gorgeous setting...always a blast to photograph there!), and they were hoping to do their engagement session during the fall. So, after a fabulous brainstorming session, we decided to start off in downtown Santa Cruz (fun, vibrant, sassy), then work our way to Wilder Ranch (rustic, rural, equally sassy!). I LOVE photographing engagement sessions in a variety of locations...you get such a diverse selection...plus, who doesn't love a couple wardrobe changes? In the process of editing for this blog post, trying to narrow down my favorites was almost painful because I LOVED so many of the images we captured!!! Sooooo, I've decided to dive it into 2 posts! Double the awesomeness!!!

Up first....Fun and sassy downtown Santa Cruz!!!

I love this shot so much, I wanted to hug my monitor while I was editing...

 

Bless these guys...I'm sure they thought I was nuts when I was having them run up and down these stairs to find the right angle lol

You know what's cool? Asking clients if they're down to hang out on the ground for awhile and having them go "Hell yea!"   ....*sigh!*

We stumbled onto this odd yellow building...I love roaming around and finding new treasures!

I had stumbled upon this alleyway/hallway/corridor a couple days before this shoot and I just HAD to photograph there!


purple+yellow+random neon sign = coolness beyond comprehension.....

Ok...that's enough awesomeness for now! Just you wait for round 2!!!

Jessica & Louis engagement session

Back in August, I had the great pleasure of photographing Jessica & Louis' wedding. These guys are so completely in love that it was adorable to see (and photograph). Sweet, fun, easygoing...I have been SO blessed this year to have such consistently awesome clients! Before I post their wedding, I wanted to share some from their engagement session, which took place down in Capitola. I LOVE Capitola....so many great colors and textures!

Meet Jessica & Louis!

Pink building? Yellow polka dot umbrella?! I'm ALL over that!

If you don't know yet....I'm a SUCKER for sassy shoes!

Yes, I'm knee deep in ocean for this shot. SO worth it! (Plus, since Jessica & Louis got wet from a sneaky wave, I figured it was only fair)

 Perk to my job? I get paid to make people to cuddle...how sweet is that!

These guys are so freaking adorable!

Wait til you see their wedding images! There's even more awesomeness to come!!!

Emily & Eddie's engagement session

Awhile back I got to photograph the fabulous wedding of Emily & Eddie. Before I share those with you though, I want to share their engagement session first! These guys are super sweet, mellow, and were so fun to work with! Emily wanted to go to this gorgeous winery in the Cupertino hills for their engagement session, and I have to say...this place was beautiful! Cool barns, rolling hills, a gorgeous day, and an awesome couple...what more can a photographer ask for?

Aren't these guys adorable?

Love these sunbeams!

One last one..isn't this place magical?!

Thanks you guys! It was such a pleasure to work with you!

Brandon & Kim's engagement session

Ooook! I hope you're all ready for some blog-aganza! And to kick it off, I thought I'd share Brandon & Kim's engagement session! Brandon and Kim got married this October at a winery out in Livermore (fabulous images soon to come!), and for their engagement session we headed down to the lovely Monterey area for a sassy, fun photo shoot. 

The rain decided to visit, but that didn't stop us!

Sassy green umbrella? Yes please!

Rainbow!!!!

Love this one!

who likes negative space? I DO!

I can't wait to share their wedding images....we had a blast AND got some super sassy portraits! Thanks Brandon &Kim....you guys were a BLAST to work with!!!

Christie & Lucas

When I first met Christie & Lucas, one of the first things they said was that they were thinking of doing their engagement session at Pismo Beach, and that they wanted portraits while riding dune buggies. My internal dialog went something like "These guys are freaking awesome!" That Lucas was an artist and photographer (thus fully understanding the effort and value of what I do), and that they both were genuinely excited over their wedding photography...It was hard to not be super excited to work with them. Add the fact they they are the two sweetest people, and so completely in love with each other...it was such a pleasure to photograph their engagement session and I can't wait until their upcoming wedding in December at the Holman Ranch!

I've got to add that their eng. sess was a totally awesome adventure. They had a general idea of where they wanted to go..... everything after that was spontaneous and often involved evasive maneuvers in my car so we could pull over to some random spot on the side of the road. Here I am rolling on the ground, asking them to let me know if a car comes barreling my way....

After roaming the countryside for awhile, we headed over to Monterey to get some fun beach and urban shots..

This hallway is freaking AWESOME!

Watch out! Sass Alert!!!

I love my job. I get to tell people "go make out over there...." 

Awesome. 

I've got to include this snippet from an email I just got from Christie after she had seen the Engagement gallery...emails like this totally make my day!

"We are completely speechless! They are beautiful; you capture so many little details about us. I never wanted that day to end, and now you have given if back to us in these absolutely amazing photos."

Thank you guys SOOOO much for making that day an awesome adventure! I can't wait until your wedding...and even more barn fun!

Julie & Bodie

Before Orbie and I went on our mini vacation a short bit ago, I had an amazing time out with Julie and Bodie for their engagement session. We headed over to the Boardwalk here in Santa Cruz, which I love since the colors are so fun (which you'll see in the images below!). The day was beautiful and warm...just another fabulous day in Santa Cruz!

this one is one of my favs....

and I love this one too!

I love the curve line in this one...

Stay tuned for their wedding coming up in a few weeks!! 

Courtney & Nash!

Ok, so I'm going to kick off my first post-vacation blog with a totally fun engagement session I did a couple weeks ago. Courtney and Nash are two super friendly, easy going, and fun people who will be getting married this winter as Nestldown. When they first talked to me about possibly being their photographer, I got so excited because everything with them just clicked. They were so easy to talk to, and they were the sort of people you could fall into random conversations with as if you were old friends. To top it off, Courtney is an event planner, so you just know this wedding will be beautiful, down to the last detail. When they started talking about how important the photography was to them, and how much they truly could appreciate what I do, I thought I was in client heaven....

These guys are really active, and love being in nature, so so we decided to head over to Wilder Ranch to do their engagement portraits. 

I'm going to kick it off with one of my favs...

 

Sassy!!!

I got so excited when we got this shot...I love the light! (and yes I still get excited when I get awesome shots, and yes, and I totally look like a dork when I do...especially if I do my happy dance....which I think I may have done here)

This is another fav...

and yet another fav...

Ok, so I seriously have so many favs, this might be a longer than average post. But really...can you blame me?? 

So cute!

Seriously though...tell me that isn't one badass wall....

Yup. It's official. It IS a totally bad ass wall....(with two bad ass people in front of it of course....)

So there it is! This is yet another wedding I have to look forward to, and I am so excited for it!! 

On a side note, I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!!

Jenny & Ron's

So awhile ago I got to do the engagement session of Jenny and Ron, who will be getting married later this year at the Hollins House. We headed over to Carmel, and we were greeted by a beautiful sunny day (a bit chilly, but sunny nonetheless). These two were naturals with the camera!

Let's start off with one of my favorites!!

Sassy!!

I was so excited when I found this door....

and I've saved the best for last! A rouge wave came and nearly took us all! I caught this while trying to escape as well....

Oksana & Rodrigo's Engagement Session

Not too long ago I photographed an engagement session for Oksana and Rodrigo. Oksana is a really good friend of mine, so I'm super excited to photograph her wedding this coming July! We started in San Jose and took some super fun portraits in front of an awesome wall...I love the colors!

After that, we went up to SF, where unfortunetly it wasn't nearly as sunny and warm. Thats ok though...we got to play my favorite game..."Pretend it's 80 Degrees Out"! Good Times!

Here is one of my favorites....

I love this photo because I think it really captures Oksana...she is such a giggler...

Oksana lookin all pretty...

Sassy!

We also went to the beach for a little fun. I've got one word for this photo....

Awesome.

And I don't have a photo, but after we were all done, we went and had some rockin buffalo wings for dinner. They know the way to my heart....thanks guys!