Outstanding in the Field // Chef John McCarthy at Beekman 1802

While I spent most of my time photographing weddings in California, I also work in the food space with chefs, producers and purveyors. One of my favorite events to photograph is Outstanding in the Field - a longtime roving dinner party hosted by Jim Denevan and his traveling team.  

I spent a summer afternoon with Outstanding in the Field, Chef John McCarthy, and the Beekman Boys themselves on the farm of Beekman 1802 in Sharon Springs, New York. Jim mowed a line in the rolling hills of the Beekman farm and set a table for 150. Chef prepared a beautiful dinner featuring Beekman goat cheese and other local goods.

Marcia & Sarah // An Oakland Engagement Session Over Waffles

Marcia & Sarah reached out to me in early spring of last year. They were planning a trip from Singapore to California - first to San Francisco where Marcia would show Sarah the life she once lived as a student in SF, and then down to LA where they would start to plan their intimate weekday wedding, scheduled for March 1, 2018.

Legal marriage isn't an option, yet, for Marcia & Sarah back home in Singapore, so they wanted to be married somewhere where they could be celebrated and legally recognized. Choosing a city with a vibrant restaurant scene was their second priority (because a week of eating well is this TV chef & filmmaker duo's idea of heaven), and the reason they landed in Los Angeles for their destination wedding.

But they wanted to have an engagement session in Oakland, where Marcia had spent years exploring as a student and small business owner (she sold her own kaya, which she started making for herself in the throws of homesickness - she was missing her own food). We connected with Nora, the owner of Drip Line, one of my favorite cafes in Oakland, and they chowed down on sweet and savory breakfast waffles, all infused with Nora's own Singaporean flavors.

Afterwards, we went to Mountain View Cemetery at the top of Piedmont Ave, which secretly has one of my favorite views in the East Bay.

Jenn & Alex in Joshua Tree // A Sunrise Engagement Session

When Jenn & Alex found out I was already in the desert (for one of my favorite Joshua Tree weddings of all time), they jumped at the chance to meet me the next morning for a sunrise drive through Joshua Tree National Park. Jenn wore a beautiful floral dress that moved with the wind and popped against the browns and greens and pinks and golds of the desert, and Alex looked sharp as all hell.

We drove into the park in the darkness, and moved south east along the road, stopping wherever our hearts (and casual pre-shoot scouting) suggested. It was a beautiful way to get to know them better - to be in awe, the three of us together, of the California sun rising in the desert sky.