Jacqueline and Greg's Engagement Session, Berkeley, California

Greg and Jacqueline are getting married in May, at a private estate high above the Sonoma Valley. I am SO excited to photograph their wedding - they were so fun to get to know that we chatted for over 2 hours at our initial meeting (oops). Their venue is literally breathtakingly beautiful; they are foodies who will have delicious and highly photographic dinner served in the beautiful Sonoma spring weather; and there are unlimited photo spots for doing family and couple portraits. It's going to be a blast!




For their engagement session this week, I drove down to Berkeley to photograph the two of them in one of the most unique spaces I've shot. They met while living at one of the UC Berkeley Co-op houses. This housing is vaguely part dormitory, but mostly a very independent, communally run living situation where 60 or so students live in 2 three story houses. I can tell that the students fill the houses with art, parties, music, and maybe a bit of chaos. Greg and Jacqueline haven't lived there in several years, so we got some odd looks and inquiries, but when they told their story to the current residents, everyone thought it was just the sweetest story, and responded with love and joy.

I love this shot with the porch swing - you can see the real trees through the window, and the mural on the sides of the (random) door. Beautiful!



It was definitely unlike anywhere I'd been before, although it definitely had me reminiscing about college, the punk houses I would shyly visit in high school, and Devon's former work-run employer. We had a great time exploring the whole place, and getting some really unique shots.

Here we climbed up on the roof - three stories up, in the Berkeley Hills to begin with. I was afraid that I would be scared and unable to get down, but it was fine. And the view, and photo opportunity, was well worth it!





It's great fun working with Jacqueline and Greg - they are so adorable together! I often have to encourage couples to smooch, but these two needed no coaxing. They are so obviously devoted to and in love with each other that they can't help snuggling up and kissing.



I love that they wanted to incorporate a sense of place into the shots. It allowed me to get some great shots of them mixed into the foliage:



This one was taken high up in the tree house. I felt like a hunter in the forest!



This shot is one of my absolute favorites:



I'm just so happy with how the photos turned out, and I had a blast poking around the coop with these two. Check out the slideshow for more favorites!