Engagement Session Favorites

Working in the San Francisco Bay Area is a dream for a wedding photographer. It allows me to create engagement sessions (or pre-wedding sessions for my couples in a huge variety of locations. I like to break down engagement sessions into three broad categories: (1) Iconic San Francisco (2) Organic Locations (3) Urban Locations.

Iconic San Francisco Engagement Sessions

These are spots such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Legion of Honor, North Beach, Potrero Hill, the Bay Bridge & Embarcadero, Cable Cars. Spots that have easily identifiable SF landmarks. Buildings, statues, skyline views, bridges. Spots that scream “San Francisco!” The good news is that SF is small enough that it’s often possible to cover several iconic SF spots within a 2-3 hour timeframe. You also have to understand the light and energy of the City. For example, common wisdom says that you should shoot at “magic hour”, when the light is most dramatic in the 1-1.5 hours before sunset. However, in the eastern part of the city, e.g. the Embarcadero, the sun actually disappears behind the buildings of downtown, so you lose that light much earlier.

Organic Locations for Engagement Sessions

These types of spots are perfect for the outdoorsy, nature-inspired couple. Think water, forest, park, farm. These are the types of spots that might require you to put on your hiking shoes, or perhaps take your shoes off altogether. One of the wonderful things about San Francisco, is that organic locations can be combined with iconic SF spots. For example, a Baker Beach engagement session allows you to capture the beach and also have a gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Urban Engagement Sessions

In addition to being a perfect city for microweddings, San Francisco is a city of micro neighborhoods and micro climates. One of my favorite things to do is to simply drop into a neighborhood like the Mission or Potrero Hill, and explore all of the rich colors, textures, murals, graffiti and street scenes that are available. Walking around like this also creates a nice flow to the session, keeping the energy high and the creativity going!

Check out some of my favorite engagement session examples below!