Shannon Montez Photography Blog » engagements

Kristin and Hamid | San Francisco Engagement Photography

shannon — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:33:59 +0000

Ahhhh…. San Francisco. Such fun energy there, so many cool places to shoot. We lucked out on this day and had perfect weather. You never know what you’re going to the City, and things can change pretty quickly.

Kristin and Hamid were awesome. They were up for anything, so perfectly comfortable together. We had so much fun playing around.

We chose several locations. Can you guess with one was my favorite?

I have to say… I think this shot is beautiful. Best grandma shot.
(for those that don’t know… I call the “both looking at the camera and smiling fairly close-up” shot the grandma shot, because she just wants to see their faces and doesn’t really care about all the fancy setups and cool backgrounds we choose)

There was a wedding going on at the Palace of Fine Arts, which was a bummer because we couldn’t go all over the place. But the light was so perfect, it kind of made up for that fact.

Kristin specifically requested an image at dusk with the city in the background. By the time we finished at Sutro Baths, dusk had come and gone and we were into “dark”. Also, finding a location was a bit of a challenge! But it was fun, and I like what we got…

Huong and Robert | Engaged | Bay Area Photography

shannon — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:10:06 +0000

This session was done on the campus of UC Berkeley. SO MUCH FUN!!! I loved that every little nook and cranny had it’s own potential… we had shots from woodsy to modern and everything in between. Love, love, love.

Huong and Robert are a dreamy couple. So sweet and kind (and photogenic!)

They thought I was crazy for wanting to take this shot… who doesn’t want a shot that looks like they’re in jail?

I love this series:

Tilt-shift + peace sign = happy photographer.

The final image of the session. I love how completely relaxed we are by the end…

I love love love… LOVE!

Lovely Valentines

shannon — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:19:05 +0000

These images were from a quick session commemorating a couple of sweet Valentines.

We almost got rained out… but instead we just got a little bit of a rainbow.

Even the doggies dressed up for the occasion!

Danielle and Chad | Campbell Engagement Photography

shannon — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:20:29 +0000

One nice thing about taking a few months away from the blog during the busy last half of the year (otherwise known in the photography world as “busy season”) is having so much fun work to share during the first few months of the year (known to me as “recovery season”). From some awesome weddings and engagement sessions to a bunch of adorable families, my computer is bursting at the seams with stuff to share from the last few months! I’m planning to share three times a week until I’m caught up. That’s not too hard, right? Right! So, to start out, I’m going to share the images from Danielle and Chad’s fun engagement session.

For their engagement session, we shot around downtown Campbell, right around my studio! I loved the commute. I looooved the light. Kind of missing this light, we don’t see the sun as much in January!

Chad is a professional fighter, so these pic are fitting. I think we all know who wins these fights, though!

Isabel and Chris | Bay Area Engagement Photography

shannon — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:08:39 +0000

Isabel and Chris. I SO love these guys. I SO love this session. We had SO much fun cruising around the city getting cool shots. I’ve been meaning to post this session forever. Seriously, for months. They’re getting married tomorrow, and to get ourselves all excited for more pics, I’m going to post some of my faves from the engagement session!

My artsy favorite shot of the day: (check out the perfect circle flare!)

My sentimental favorite shot of the day:

Can’t wait for the wedding tomorrow! It’s going to be SO much fun and so so special.

p.s. I apologize for all the randomness regarding the watermarks/logo… Obviously I had set up to blog this several times the last few months and never finished the job. Rather than redoing it, I just went ahead and posted my mismatched ones. Letting go of the perfectionism will hopefully allow me to blog in a more timely manner, ha ha.

Martina and Ara | San Francisco Engagement Session

shannon — Sun, 16 May 2010 06:43:25 +0000

Martina and Ara met during the infamous Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco. It was only fitting that we have their engagement session there! We spent the whole session at Golden Gate Park. We had amazing, gorgeous light, and they are a wonderful, happy couple. We had the best time. Seriously? How cool is my job!!

Here are some favorites.

I really love this “grandma shot”. They look so relaxed and happy here. [I call the looking and smiling shots "grandma shots" because these are what makes grandma happy. She might be disappointed if all we had were artsy fartsy shots!]

This light… I was dying. They were laughing at how giddy I was while I was taking this.

This is at the beach… I love their bare feet.

I love the feel of this shot.

Rosie and Alex | Bay Area Engagement Photography

shannon — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:13:21 +0000

I’m SO looking forward to their wedding. Rosie was telling me about finding her perfect dress, and their wedding plans in the vineyard… I think it’s going to be an amazing day and I can’t wait!

In the meantime… we had so much fun hanging out at their engagement session. It was a fairly cold morning (for them… not for me in my down jacket!) but they kept each other toasty warm.

We had the most beautiful light! I was all giddy the entire time.

I just love the way they interact. They are so connected and sweet. They are so comfortable and natural and warm together.

The sky made the perfect backdrop. Nothing else needed.

Gorgeous. Seriously!

Love the location. I’m so going back. My favorite shot of the day.

I can’t help it. I just love people laying in the grass. It makes them so comfortable and relaxed… I just love what happens.

Vanessa and Jason | Morgan Hill Engagement Photography

shannon — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:14:54 +0000

Vanessa and Jason are so sweet. They attended the same church for several years, but didn’t actually meet or speak until bumping into each other one day in college. They started a conversation that lasted several hours… actually, it’s going to continue for the rest of their lives! We met at their church and played around on the amazing grounds surrounding it.

We had the most beautiful cloudy skies! (kind of a rarity in sunny California)… I had fun playing with my flash off-camera to make sure they were captured properly.

Love them!! Can’t wait for their wedding next month.

Rachel and Dennis | San Jose Engagement Photographer

shannon — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:49:21 +0000

These guys are SO sweet together! I loooved their adorable little doggies and the way they treated them. And each other. And me. Totally golden people. Can’t wait until their wedding. It’s going to be so fun!

Kathy and Rob

shannon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:36:02 +0000

Kathy was actually one of my earliest clients, several years ago. It’s been so much fun to see her girls grow! And now, Kathy has found Rob and they’re in the process of blending their families. This session was a combined family and engagement session. I love this location, it was an accidental find, next to the park where we were supposed to have our session. Love it. Love them.

What is it about a daddy/daughter pic that makes me melt?

HOT.