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.

Traveling through Ethiopia | 001

We left our hotel in Addis Ababa at 5:30am and waited in line for a german bakery to open, where we'd get a week's worth of pastries and our morning's breakfast and then begin the drive. We'd watch the sun rise over the city, leaving it behind us and once the buildings ended the land opened up on all sides.

Lauren & Eric at San Francisco City Hall | Wedding Reception at Cliff House

Lauren at Eric met years ago working together at Best Buy in San Francisco. Now living in Southern California, they knew they wanted to start their marriage in the same city that brought them there. They also knew that they wanted to plan something quiet and low key, focusing on bringing their families and closest friends together for a small ceremony in San Francisco's most beautiful building - San Francisco City Hall - and a lovely lunch on the most iconic beach in the city. 

After their ceremony and some portraits around City Hall, the three of us ventured off to the apartment where Eric lived when they first started dating for a quick and dirty (well, rainy and windy) portrait, and then we met their people at Cliff House in Lands End.