This cute and wacky couple held their engagement session yesterday at the Santa Monica Pier. Anyone that I’ve photographed can tell you that I have this hand gesture for getting people to kiss. I shoot with a long lens and it is sometimes difficult to hear from far away. Ricky and Nikki kept imitating my gesture throughout the session. Don’t mock the hand signs!
I told them that I would give them both large moles on their faces if they kept it up.
I just love how Nikki’s flowing dress adds energy and complements the leading curves of the wooden fence in the photograph below. We actually had to walk a bit just to find the perfect fence with the roller coaster in the background and no litter on the sand.

The next three photographs beneath the pier are nothing less than HOT!


All natural light in the photograph below in 1/20 sec, f1.6 at ISO 3200!. That’s camera talk for freaking dark. I braced myself on one of the horizontal crossbars and the couple had to keep completely still for the image.



Pink shirt, pink wall. Blue shirt, blue wall.


The engagement session had ended, my gear was packed and tucked away, and Nikki and Ricky were on a separate path down the pier when I spotted the balloon clown.













