January 12th, 2011:

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

Last Sunday on an overcast and uncharacteristically gloomy California day, Felicia and I had an excuse to make our way up the coast to visit one of our favorite Californian places: Santa Barbara. We’re both very fond of the city’s character, small-town feel, mellow vibe, and collection of eclectic mom-and-pop stores instead of the usual retail behemoths. After an easy drive on the 101 including a scenic stretch with the boundless blue of the Pacific beside us, we met up with Adela and Brett to shoot an engagement session for them at the Santa Barbara Courthouse.

I had done some research and knew that the Spanish-style building was beautiful, but nothing beat being there in person. We wandered through the manicured lawns of the garden, dodging tourists and weekend warriors armed with their DSLRs,  and worked our way into the brooding building. There was antique furniture lining the hallways, dark wood and imposing doors, and a whole range of architectural details to choose from.  I confided in my wife before we started that the hardest part of this shoot was not having 4 hours to shoot every single angle of this place!

Adela & Brett showed up with a spring in their step and were ready to go with megawatt smiles. Beautiful people, beautiful locations, wow. Some days are just perfect!

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

These three pictures (the one above and two below), were shot at the Fess Parker Doubletree where Adela and Brett were first introduced to each other at an event. When we arrived, I made them take me to the EXACT spot where they first said “Hello”,  then I had them start reminising about that night while I shot away.

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

Santa Barbara, Courthouse, Fess Parker, Doubletree, Engagement Photography, Pictures, Photographer, Los Angeles, Destination

This last shot is one of my favorites. The sun was over the horizon and twilight had started to settle in, and I somehow managed to convinced Brett and Adela to cross the street and let me capture a few last images (in the VERY icy wind) of them sitting by the shore.  I slapped a CTO gel on my off-camera flash, shot it through an umbrella and set the camera’s white balanced to 3200K.  I laid down in a patch of ice plant and this is very close to how the picture turned out, straight out of the camera!

Congrats again Adela + Brett!