Sunset Cliffs Engagement Session: Chantelle and Carrie

One swipe right and you could be finishing the sentences of your future life partner over a few glasses of wine. This is how Chantelle and Carrie’s whirlwind romance began: in sync from the moment they met, feeling like they had known each other their entire lives, and most importantly, feeling completely seen by the other. This power couple - Chantelle graduated law school and passed the California BAR exam this year while Carrie continues to serve 20 years and counting in the United States Navy - quickly recognized that they wanted the same things in life, so when they found the ring Chantelle had pinned to her Pinterest board for years, bought it and viola: engaged!

As we planned their San Diego engagement session, Chantelle and Carrie wanted a backdrop with water, but not on the beach, as well as a location that would fit with a formal wardrobe change. Sunset Cliffs and Balboa Park were the perfect San Diego engagement session locations to meet their wants, BUT there was a catch: we would need to begin shooting at sunrise to avoid crowds of people.

Without hesitation, Chantelle and Carrie agreed to meet at the crack of dawn, dressed, hair done, make up done, ready to smile, and let me tell you: these two brought it! The magnetic love these two have for each other simply glows! Their instant bursts of laughter, their positive energy and adoration for each other made capturing their love easy and an absolute pleasure.

Chantelle and Carrie, from our first conversation, I knew you two were gems! I adore your energy and will always be your biggest cheerleader behind the camera. Thank you for trusting me in capturing your love story! xoxo, Evelyn

San Diego Courthouse Wedding: Maria and Fausto

When Maria and Fausto reached out to me to photograph their civil marriage ceremony, I was thrilled: Fausto is the cousin of one of my past grooms so we'd previously met and knew he was a complete sweetheart. Combine this with the fact that I absolutely love shooting at Waterfront Park and I knew this afternoon was going to be amazing.

With the San Diego County Administration Building as our backdrop, absolutely stunning Maria and Fausto were all smiles and laughs after their civil marriage ceremony, and Maria's strut in her gorgeous Adriana Lugo wedding dress. Let it be known that a San Diego courthouse wedding is special: an outdoor ceremony with a gorgeous San Diego bay backdrop provides plenty of space for photos.

Fausto and Maria, felicidades y gracias por darme el placer de tomarles sus fotos en su dia de casamiento! Con carino, Evelyn

Mission Trails Engagement: Art and Elmer

Hiking through national parks, road trips up and down the West Coast, and relaxing beach days, Art and Elmer are always on the hunt for adventure. Their mutual love for the outdoors quickly bonded them upon meeting as well as their love to kick back and enjoy a beverage or two to celebrate life. Their latest celebration? Their engagement, and San Diego's Mission Trails Regional Park was the perfect backdrop for Art and Elmer's engagement session: it has the nature, water, and trails they are always seeking and love, and in staying true to their personal style, they brought a bottle to pop, toast, and enjoy as well!

Art and Elmer, you know I adore you both and am grateful you asked me to document this very special time in your lives. Your openness for fun and laughter during this session made me love you guys more! xoxo, Evelyn

Calistoga Event Photographer: Molly's Dinner Party

Molly reached out to me to photograph a dinner party she would be hosting in Calistoga, a small city within Napa Valley, that had been in the making for a long time: Molly wanted to bring together the important people in her life for a weekend of fun and relaxation to celebrate friendships, honor those who she's lost, and her very own birthday! The champagne would be flowing and fresh paella's would be made on the spot on a Calistoga estate.

This was a dream shoot come true: there is nothing more that I love than photographing people interacting at dinner parties, and hello food and wine! I deeply value community and love the idea of bringing people together to share a meal: food brings people together. Sometimes you know everyone at the table, sometimes you don't, but it's always a shared experience amongst everyone present.

These plans, however, were all made pre-Covid, and come the dinner party weekend in mid-May 2020, the decision was made to move forward with the event: the guest list had been significantly reduced in size and all events would be held outside.

As someone who had been strictly quarantining with family in the Bay Area, I felt confident that a long zoom lens would be my go-to piece of equipment in order to maintain a distance, mask on, to capture candid moments of this amazing group of people enjoying time together.

Overhearing everyone's conversation, noting how coming together felt right for them during this tough time, resonated with me as documenting this gorgeous event, laughs and toasts, and the delicious Spanish catering from Nora Cocina Español, gave me a sense of normalcy. For that I am grateful.

Molly, thank you for entrusting me to capture such a special event. Everyone's warm energy gave me life! xoxo, Evelyn

What better party favor than a mini photoshoot for your guests?! The estate vineyards were the perfect backdrop for portraits. Some couples had not been photographed professionally since their wedding, years ago, or had not taken family portraits in ages so this was a complete treat for me to give everyone individual time in front of the camera.

Nora Cocina Espanola, based in Berkeley, did a phenomenal job catering this dinner: look at these Spanish tapas! Not one, but two paellas made on site! Yes and please!

Making Cinnamon Rolls with Dre

One of the many things that I rave about my sister, Andrea, is that the girl can cook. As in, "Hot damn! Are these the Nobu seared scallops with jalapeno sauce?! You made these?!" She has mastered how to make the perfect steak and potatoes, replicate many of her favorite high end restaurant dishes, and lucky for us, takes requests from our family. Most impressively, Dre, as I call her, makes most of her magic happen in what she describes as the 'busted kitchen' - old, ugly, and falling apart - that came as is when she bought her fixer upper home.

With this unprecedented 'Covid Season,' where as a family who is quarantining together has adopted the 'let's bake A LOT' attitude, I love that after who knows how many pleas, Dre let me document the making of one of her masterpieces. Like the times we are in, it's about using our resources, as little or as much as they may be, to get by: thank you busted kitchen for giving Andrea the space to get creative to share her love for us through food! Thank you baking for giving us an activity we do collectively (I mixed the frosting, thanks!) and thank you Andrea for taking my request for these Cinnabon copycat cinnamon rolls and for letting me post these photos when we never had any intention in sharing them ha!

Stay home, be kind, and don’t worry about that summer body cause cinnamon rolls trump everything! - Evelyn

There is not one cinnamon roll recipe that calls for throwing the dough in the air, however I asked Dre to do so for dramatic effect. Give it some oomph into the air, girl!

While she let the dough rise, she made the cream cheese frosting that I eventually mixed: my contribution to this project! Ha!

Dre always reminds me that baking is a science: everything really should be exact, even the length of the rolled dough hence the measuring tape!

Ladies and gentlemen, the before, above. Below, THE AFTER. Perfectly crisp, smelling like heaven aka cinnamon sugar.

Viola, homies! Look at those gooey, swirly, crisp on the outside, doughy but not undercooked middle, cinnamon rolls, MADE WITH LOVE.