Point Reyes Engagement Photos | Melissa & Mike

I have always tried to take any and all opportunities when it comes to my photography career. Some opportunities are clear, but some you have to uncover.

The epic landscape that is Point Reyes was not on my radar at all. Although I have lived in California for the entirety of my life, the northern part of it is very foreign to me. However, I recently I found an opportunity to explore it.

Melissa and Mike are getting married in Yosemite and proposed to do their engagement photos there so that Melissa could get a makeup trial done at the same time. I, personally, wanted to avoid the redundancy of both shoots (engagement and wedding) being in Yosemite and I had heard the makeup artist was in Sonoma so I began to google other possible locations closer to Sonoma. I quickly discovered the Cypress Tree Tunnel and Point Reyes. I saw the awesome opportunity and proposed the idea to Melissa and she really liked the idea and we went with it. Turns out, the make-up artist was in Sonora, not Sonoma. (Yes apparently they are different) This meant Melissa was getting her makeup done 3.5 hours away from Point Reyes, but she was committed and she and Mike made the drive.

We began the shoot in the Cypress Tree Tunnel. The sky was cloudy, which provided nice soft shadows inside the tunnel and an awesome directional light coming from each end. To complement the light, Melissa and Mike were extremely natural together. They remained loose despite the cold, which is not easy to do!

We proceeded 15 minutes down Sir Francis Drake Blvd to the parking lot for the Point Reyes lighthouse. Of course, it was raining. Because, well, why wouldn’t it? That didn’t stop us though. I was determined to use every minute we had and to be quite honest this image below of the two of them under the umbrella smooshing their noses together might be my favorite image from the day.

Something that can be said about the clouds and the fog is that it is a double-edged sword. It eliminates any and all harsh light which can be great, but as it thickens it can cause the background of the images to disappear into a dull grey. In my opinion, this leaves the image seeming flat.

I was really nervous about all of these locations looking the same. I didn’t want to deliver a gallery of redundant cloudy images so I had my girlfriend Taylor grab my flash so that I could mix it up and maintain variety. Would you believe me if I said that wasn’t a real sunset?

The last spot we went to was South Beach in Point Reyes. We were actually planning on going to North Beach and I had told them when we arrive we would only have a few minutes of light before it was too dark. As we were driving, the daylight was rapidly disappearing and I began to get worried. Google Maps said we were still about 7 minutes away. Now, if you’ve ever chased daylight, you know 7 minutes is a long time.

Boom, a sign that said ‘Beach’ popped up on the sign of the road. I made a quick turn left. I didn’t know which beach it was or whether it was going to work but with darkness approaching, I had no choice. We arrived at the end of the road at south beach. The water was roaring, the tide was high, the air was cold and as I had told them, we had about 4 minutes of natural light available. The resulting image set was small and simple but it was worth it.

With the natural light gone, I had Taylor light them up with the flash. After popping off a few shots I had her run behind to back-light them. While dodging the tide I snapped this last image, followed by the image at the top of this page. I think both images a combination of luck and persistence from Taylor, Melissa, Mike and myself and I was blown away when I saw them on the back of the camera.

Post shoot I was greeted by a text message from Melissa saying they both had so much fun. She was actually impressed at how much fun Mike had. A text like this is one of the most validating things as a photographer because it’s no secret that a lot of men don’t like photos.

Melissa and Mike, thank you so much for agreeing to explore this location with me. Thank you for enduring the drive, the rain, the cold and everything in between. The two of you were so much fun to photograph and I cannot wait for your epic Yosemite wedding.

I would also like to extend thanks to my girlfriend, Taylor, for enduring the cold and assisting me throughout the shoot.

Til next time,

Nic

ABOUT ME: Hi! My name is Nic Hilton. I am a destination wedding photographer based in Los Angeles. I shoot many weddings in the Mammoth Lakes area as well as Southern California but I am available to travel worldwide! Contact Me today because I would love to tell your story.