The day before this shoot, it was about 4pm, and I was in the Outer Sunset neighborhood on the west side San Francisco, and was struck by how warm and inviting everything looked. The skies to the west were clear, except for some wispy patches of clouds stretching across the sky punctuating the light filtering through that splashed yellows, oranges, reds, blues and purples above.

This made me immediately fire off an e-mail to Jennifer & Chris, asking if they would be interested in heading to the coast after their scheduled shoot at the Palace of Fine Arts the next day. I was happy to find a "yes" reply in my inbox after not too long. I made the disclaimer that the idea to do some of their engagement shoot on the coast at Sutro Baths would put us a the mercy of the weather a bit, and even if it stayed dry, it might be on the chilly side; but Jennifer & Chris were up for the risk.

It all worked out because we got to work with same golden sunlight that inspired me the day before, and it looked just as warm and dramatic as I could have hoped.

This was the first time I had worked with Jennifer & Chris, and immediately I was struck by how cool they were. Our rapport was that of old friends right off the bat, and that dynamic really made it a joy to spend the afternoon with them. We were already getting a taste of what the light on the coast had in store for us at our first stop, the Palace of Fine Arts. It was a lot of fun working with Jennifer & Chris, just finding little spots to let the great light wrap around them. Already excited for what we made so far, we headed to Sutro Baths/Land's End with the sun already low on the horizon. Upon arrival, the light was as I had hoped the day before; just awesome.

Jennifer & Chris were a pleasure, and even though their San Francisco shoot ran into the night, it was still too soon for me. I really enjoyed getting to know them, and loved the easy way they show each other love. Photographing them together makes me excited to shoot their wedding in March.

-Joseph

We finished up at the Sutro Bath Ruins, and in the course of conversation, Chris let me know that he took Jennifer to the Cliff House just down the highway from where we were; that meant we weren't finished until we did a little bit to commemorate their first few moments as a couple.