Noah Hawthorne Photography | San Francisco Wedding Photographer » Engagements

Julia & Stuart | Palo Alto Engagement Shoot

Noah Hawthorne — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:30:56 +0000

Julia and Stuart scheduled their engagement shoot long in advance of any weather forecasts, and then drove up from LA to meet with me for our shoot, with pouring rain greeting us on the way to meet in Palo Alto. With another stroke of brilliant good luck, my second engagement shoot of the weekend just managed to avoid any torrential downpours, have a bit of fun with a drizzling winter rain, all while taking some amazing images. Beyond just getting some good images for clients, engagement shoots are a great way to get used to photography in preparation for the wedding day, get to know the photographer (and vice versa). After playing around Palo Alto (even some time around the Farmer’s Market) we headed over to the back alleys of Stanford for a different look.

Julia and Stuart met at a Salsa class, and when I left them alone, it seemed like the couple just couldn’t stop dancing.

I’ll be looking forward to shooting Julia and Stuart’s wedding at El Mirador in Montecito (by Santa Barbara) this May.

Salina & Elijah | Legion of Honor Engagement Shoot

Noah Hawthorne — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:14:02 +0000

It doesn’t seem wise to plan an engagement shoot in the pouring rain, but a little bit of water seems to add a nice touch to an engagement session. Salina and Elijah braved the Winter storm, some admittedly frigid weather, and joined me at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco for their engagement shoot. And best of all, after rain all day, the clouds parted just in time for us to have the perfect lighting for an afternoon of photography.

Tatyana and Julian | Palo Alto Engagement Shoot

Noah Hawthorne — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:31:00 +0000

Tatyana and Julian came out to the Bay Area from Illinois for the holidays, and took the opportunity to meet up with me for some engagement photos after Christmas. We wandered around Palo Alto, into the foothills for beautiful California oaks and golden hills, ending up downtown with the holiday lights sparkling around the city.

Matt & Caroline | Embarcadero Engagement Shoot

Noah Hawthorne — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:39:55 +0000

Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate with photoshoot plans, with a grey and rainy day instead of a beautiful sunset on the beach. However, aside from a bit of anxiety as I’m pushed to be even more creative, I absolutely love the challenge of working in difficult photography situations. With fading light, scattered showers, and the twinkling lights of Christmas just starting to go up around the city, I headed out with Matt and Caroline to get some photos of the two of them before they get married in February. As Texas transplants, Caroline had always wanted to go to SF as a tourist, taking photos around the town. Now as Bay Area residents the Golden Gate may seem a bit less glamorous, but we still had our chance to grab a few city view photos for them to bring back with them when they head back home for the wedding. We had a wonderful time, only got a little bit wet and I think that these photos are absolutely worth it. A few quick favorites are below.

Jaime + Kevin | San Jose Art Museum & Stanford Engagement

Noah Hawthorne — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:57:52 +0000

Jaime and Kevin took a break from their world wedding tour (playing in Chicago, Monterey Bay California, and Singapore) to come meet with me for some engagement photos. We went to the San Jose Art Museum, a place where they were walking, as friends, years before when a stranger came up to talk to them about what a great wedding venue it would be for them. The thought process started, they ended up together not too long after. While the museum didn’t end up as their venue it was fun for a few shots before we headed up to Stanford and the foothills to brave the stormy weather. Their energy, laughter, and chemistry and a brisk hike through through the hills made for a wonderful afternoon.

Exhibit A on left: standard hiking boots. Exhibit B on right: designer shoes (one of two pairs for the day).

Kimberley and Mark Engagement

Noah Hawthorne — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:18:58 +0000

Today I spent a wonderful, sunny afternoon with Kimberley and Mark. We jumped around the Golden Gate Bridge, found some beautiful light, and had an all-around wonderful time. These two certainly know how to have fun together!

Nina and Peter’s Stanford Engagement Shoot

Noah Hawthorne — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:16:57 +0000

Stanford University is one of my favorite places to shoot, and one of my more popular engagement session locations. I had a great time meeting up with Nina and Peter again to take some photos for their wedding that’s coming up in just a few weeks! We were blessed with some gorgeous sunset and evening light out in the foothills that were a nice compliment to the formal campus architecture. Great light+great location+fun loving and engaging couple= wonderful photos! I have such a fun job.

Mariko + John Engagement

Noah Hawthorne — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:36:11 +0000

Mariko and John are the first couple from my Stanford class who I’ve worked with. While I will likely know quite a few wedding guests, I hadn’t met this dynamic duo until our photo session on Baker beach this past Sunday. They came up from Los Angeles for an early morning shoot, and undeterred by the triathlon that shared the beach with us, we spent a great morning on the beach with a whole side completely to ourselves. From the moment we met Mariko and John couldn’t stop laughing. They have such wonderful energy and are so at ease with each other’s company that these photos almost took on a life of their own. I love this set of images with the iconic blend of the Golden Gate Bridge with this genuine, energetic and fun couple.

Meghan & Jason | Legion of Honor Engagement

Noah Hawthorne — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:30:57 +0000

Meghan and Brian met me at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor for their engagement shoot. The two have been separated by distance (and the commitments of medical school and residency), and managed to slip our photography session into a Bay Area reunion weekend. Their joyous, low-key energy was so much fun. Meghan…I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you on match day. I hope to you both around the Bay Area soon.

Tim & Jess | Golden Gate Park Engagement Shoot

Noah Hawthorne — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:19:20 +0000

Tim and Jess joined me for a play date in Golden Gate Park where we enjoyed the late afternoon sun, and a beautiful summer day before heading down to the Civic Center area for a few evening photos. This was so much fun!

I’ll be shooting their wedding this next October at Relais du Soleil in Glen Ellen. Can’t wait.

Jen and Ji were around for the day as well as my honorary “assistants”. Ji is Jess’ brother and will be the “man of honor” for the wedding.

I was encouraged to do pull-ups after this. Tim is an Ironman (just qualified for this year’s Hawaii competition, while Jess is doing an Olympic distance triathlon today!), so monkey bar shenanigans were no problem for this couple.

This could have been an out-take, but was just too cute not to keep, and even put on the blog.