I'm a beach virgin. Photography wise, of course (I saw you getting dirty little ideas in your head!) So, when it came time to do Jessica and Kennen's engagement session, I was drawing blanks on where to shoot. Since I've only lived in Southern California for 8 months, it can be a challenge to find new locations since I'm simply not all that familiar with the area. I finally decided on Santa Monica Pier after it was suggested by a friend. Jessica & Kennen live in Santa Monica so it worked out perfectly. We were all excited to shoot at this location but we weren't quite prepared for how many people would be at the pier...I suppose we should have since it was the first 75 degree day in over a month (God bless Southern California). People everywhere, but it actually added to the ambiance of the photos. Before the session, I posted on my Facebook page that I wanted to do a shot on the roller coaster, but Jessica is afraid of roller coasters and I'm not really in the habit of traumatizing my clients, so we compromised on the ferris wheel (which also ended up being quite scary). We shot through the crowds on the pier, under the pier, with the crowds on the beach, during the sunset, laying in the sand, with seagulls, and with Bubba Gump's restaurant in the background. It was a gorgeous session and totally worth my 2 1/2 hour drive home. LA traffic...oh, how I hate thee.

Jessica & Kennen...you guys are naturals. Seriously.

PS, I think this might be the biggest blog post ever, so be prepared to see a ton of photos. I loved so many of them that I couldn't narrow them down. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how many is in their final gallery. haha.