People who aren’t afraid to be goofy are my favorite.

-Tara

Sarah and Arron, hailing all the way from the United Kingdom. They were roaming California on holiday, celebrating their 7th anniversary.

I love:

that we got to hang out
that they rented a convertible – so iconic
her hair blowing in the wind
their shoes
her freckles
his crooked smile
their comfortable hug in front of grafitti
her blue nails
their beach outfit change (I literally could not take my eyes off her with that bathing suit and headband and pink hoodie – she was radiant!)
how they forgot I was there a lot of the time
her headband – she made it!
that she brought out her camera
their request for photographs by the lifeguard stand, and how they turned out
(doesn’t the vertical shot on the lifeguard stand seem like it could have been their grandparents?)
a girl who is willing to wear a bathing suit on camera

What you may not be able to see is that these two were a bit shy and a bit unsure of how to “act” for the camera, but they let go and trusted me. And I am thankful to them for that. Soon their shy smiles turned authentic and free. It was really lovely bringing them out of their shell.

xo
Tara

Michel and Christa are friends of mine. Michel works for Treats! magazine. (Treats! link contains nudity) Christa is a self employed baker at Mini Baker. They live in Los Angeles. They are getting married soon.

They told me, “Do whatever you want with us.”

This is what happened.

xo

Tara

PS – LOVE YOU GUYS! Can’t wait for the wedding. (That I won’t be shooting.)

This is my good friend Michel, and the love of his life Christa. They were driving me to a spot they found that had a view of Los Angeles – to help us live out my vision for their engagement shoot. As we drove through this tunnel I saw the way the light was going OFF at just the right angle, and I asked, “So. Are we down for doing something in the tunnel?” And I found out that Michel had wanted to shoot in the tunnel, but thought it might be weird to ask, and I had wanted to shoot in the tunnel, but thought it might be weird to ask. (I almost didn’t ask.)

Guess I just learned (again) – IF YOU ARE REALLY FEELING IT, whatever it is, IT IS NEVER WEIRD TO ASK.

xo

Tara

Thirty minutes later in another part of town:

James hails from Scotland, and I might have asked him to talk a lot simply to hear him speak.
Rosie resides in Chicago, where she owns and runs her own clothing boutique, named Roslyn.
Rosie is good friends with a client turned friend, Michelle, who is one of the women I went to Thailand with. I also photographed her gorgeous pregnant belly, pre Thailand.
(Fun connection: Rosie is Thai and the blanket they are making out on is Thai. Bought it on my trip.)
I photographed Rosie, Michelle, and their friend Amy while they were on a Los Angeles girls weekend.
Rosie came back to me for her engagement session with her James.

We started in the sun and headed to the beach where it was locked in with cloud cover. And dark. Very dark. I was a little worried, but I think the end results were good. They got a mix of sunny and happy along with moody and sexy.

I hope I get to photograph their babies.

xo

Tara