After tangoing into the tangle of married life, couples usually recall only the hectic planning during the last months before the wedding. (Having been married for only a few years, Meg and I remember this well.) As a wedding photographer, my goal is to provide respite from the big project and remind you of who you are as a couple, taking sweet shots of your ‘still single’ moments. I want to capture the bloom of your togetherness before married life blurs into taking care of your family, mortgage payments, child-rearing, and the thousands of distracting things that come with all. I want to give you breathing space for an afternoon.

Don’t under-estimate the importance of working with the photographer before the wedding. Taking a test drive with me during the engagement session, included in our photography packages, enables you to become comfortable being in front of the camera, and this comfort level extends to being photographed on your big day. The secret to great photographs is "presence.” The best shots are the ones in which you appear natural, trusting, and blissfully in love. "Relax and breathe," you will hear me calmly say, over and over.

Many grooms think that having their picture taken is only slightly preferable to having their teeth cleaned. My engagement session proves that photography can be painless and actually fun, with lots of hugging and kissing. Consider it yet another celebration, another milestone in your path of life – the culmination of your pre-marital relationship. These are photos that you will show to your future offspring so that they can view you as an entity other than their married mom and dad.

I offer two types of engagement sessions. The more popular and classic one takes place in one location, such as a local community garden with teak benches, blooming flowers, a stately house with columns and 100-year-old magnolia trees, complete with lawn and long hedge.

The other is the "Engagement Experience," incorporating several venuesRecently, I met a couple at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The dramatic, peach-colored columns served as an ideal backdrop, and the reflections in the serene pond added to the romance. We then went to the Exploratorium's Wave Organ, a collection of recycled masonry arranged to resemble a Poseidon amphitheater out on a jetty near Alcatraz with a clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The last stop was Pacific Heights, with its stately hillside mansions, sidewalk steps, and lavish front yards. I place you in these gorgeous settings that symbolize the majesty and magic of your relationship and accentuate its strength and passion. I want you to remember this session as a very special romantic date. And I gain inspiration from your chemistry and tenderness towards each other. During the session I will suggest that you dance on the lawn, dip your partner, pick her up, ride piggyback. Perhaps, "Kiss, then look at me. Kiss again. Hug each other as if you were alone.”

I take several hundred shots and give you high-resolution files of 40 to 50 shots. I use Photoshop on some to create an exotic effect, while I turn others into black-and-white or sepia tone. You can use these engagement photos for photo signing boards (11x14), so popular at receptions. Couples also include photos on the wedding program or in a slide show, played during the reception, that begins with baby pictures and ends with the hot engagement shots.

While we used to charge separately for the engagement session, we found that including it in our packages added immensely to the wedding day photography experience, not only because the couple is now at ease in front of the camera but also because I really got to know them after the intimate engagement session. It is rewarding work to be in the front-row seat of love.