Rachel and Giancarlo's Engagement Session, Stanford University, California

(Click photo for the slideshow)

Rachel and Giancarlo met, and got engaged, on the Stanford Campus, and since there wedding will be in the wilds of the beautiful Nestldown venue, we all agreed that Stanford would be a great location for their engagement session. I hadn't been on campus, if memory serves, since 1993 when I saw They Might Be Giants in concert (with Frente! as an opener!), so it was lovely to rediscover and explore the gorgeous campus. The evening was perfectly sunny, warm and beautiful, so we shot for almost 2 hours, just playing and having a great time!



They were all about me incorporating the architecture and sense-of-place elements into their portraits, which was a great freedom at this beautiful location!



Of course, being me... I had to have them lie in the grass at least once : )





Loved all the beautiful blooming plants:







This is the little nook where Giancarlo popped out to pop the question (after instructing a friend to get Rachel to the location for a romantic picnic). So cute!





As we were walking to a few planned out destinations, I had to keep stopping them at the various locations - "just one more, I swear!".







We ended up in the beautiful Rodin sculpture garden right as the most beautiful golden-hour rays of sunset were the strongest.



(You know I can't get enough of shoe shots...)



I swear I felt we were in the South of France!



Just a quick, random shot of Stanford I had to share - c'est si magnifique!



And then the fountain! The one Rachel had in mind was turned off, sadly... so they jumped in the more aggressive one and had a blast. Giancarlo even dipped her without dropping her in the water!





The drippy aftermath:



Thanks, you guys - you were really so easy to work with and photograph! I had a difficult time picking my favorites because there were so many great smiles and images... I don't think I've ever deleted so few shots. I can't wait for your wedding next year!