Jason & Jen's engagement @ Balboa Park

I headed out to Balboa Park this past Sunday to shoot some engagement portraits for Jason and Jen:

Jason planned a surprise vacation from Colorado to pop the question here in San Diego, which he did the night before our shoot. Unfortunately the weather wasn't typical of San Diego ( and they did get out of town before the storm ), but we made the most of the last overcast hours of the day.

Their personalities and smiles helped keep the mood lighthearted and we quickly covered a lot of locations.

I did my best to provide the historical background of the

park... "Who was Balboa? Umm.." and I felt I gave a pretty good tour.

Engagement shoots can be challenging for a variety of reasons but I find striking a balance of candid and conceptual ( cheesy ) shots is the most difficult. Trying to shoot two different styles simultaneously is a tough state of mind to maintain. I'm always just trying to give my clients variety so they're left with options in the editorial process.

Another challenge is to capture the personalities and character of people who you've had very little interaction with. This is a talent I've had success in refining. I can generally have people laughing at themselves ( or me ) within just a few minutes.

At the end of the day it's all about getting people animated and looking like they love each other! ( A lot of engagement photographers are so avant garde these days their subjects don't even appear to like each other. But thats a rant I'll save for later... )