Denise & Karl chose Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park in Coto de Caza, CA as the location for their Engagement Shoot. It is an amazing expanse of open terrain nestled in the soft rolling hills just beyond Irvine, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Mission Viejo. We arrived for golden hour, and took advantage of the golden dry grass fields and speckled light that shone thru the trees...

We meandered along a path, taking in the beauty and stopping to get mushy and cute up in trees....

I was excited for this shoot with Denise & Karl in the weeks leading up to our scheduled day. I even went hiking at Thomas F Riley with a friend a couple of days before, to check out the light and scout locations (my friend even ran away when she thought she heard a mountain lion in the bushes!) (ps. you're not supposed to run away). I also read about the Brenizer Method of photo stitching. I made a few attempts to create some single images out of a composite of multiple photos.... This is one that I liked: (I will continue to try the Brenizer Method and post the results...)

Brenizer Method composite of about 24 images.

The light continued to soften as the day waned, nature worked her magic and shone beautifully down on Denise & Karl, and a bouquet of wildflowers completed the picture...

After a quick wardrobe change, we took advantage of the soft rolling California hills and the golden wild grass that was now fully gold in the late afternoon light...

Thank you Denise & Karl for such an awesome shoot!!