The central California coast offers some particularly epic locations for engagement photos. I’ve had my eye on doing a Los Olivos engagement session for quite some time but was waiting for an awesome couple like Stephanie + Jonathan to make the journey with me. On the days leading up to any shoot that I have planned I’m constantly checking the weather reports. I’ll shoot in just about any condition but it’s always good to know what you’re heading into. Fortunately enough, the forecast for the day was 75 degrees and sunny- my bread and butter.

We met up at a gorgeous lavender farm in Los Olivos. The lavender wasn’t in season at the time but the property offered the most gorgeous driveway lined with olive trees. We ran up and down the shaded drive, dodging cars and falling olives. Before heading to our next location we stopped off at a tasty little sandwich shop in downtown Los Olivos (a fantastic little town for wine tasting) to grab some food before heading up into the hills. We drove up into the Figueroa Mountains, ready for adventure and spectacular views. As we ascended higher and higher, we could spot the ocean off in the distance, peeking out behind the rolling hills. There were some severe storms just a week before we were there so as we drove we encountered many fallen trees, boulders, and even some remaining patches of snow!

I had a couple locations already in mind where I wanted to take them so as we drove up the mountain we stopped off and grabbed some shots along the way. After an hours worth of driving and a whole lot of boulder dodging we had finally arrived to a private, wide open space that provided gorgeous views of the surrounding landscape and made for the perfect location to run around, share some laughs, and enjoy and unobstructed view of the setting sun. As the light started to fade we set up a little picnic to watch the last few minutes of golden light.

After wrapping up our shoot we headed back down the mountain, twisting and turning down the dark and windy road to The Landsby, a hip little hotel in Solvang. There we enjoyed some wine and toasted to a successful and crazy fun shoot!

 

Photography: Alex W Photography
Developing/Scanning: The FIND Lab