This post is part 2 of 2. Click here to read part 1.

Jill and Chase approached us with an unusual plan: to get married outside somewhere with an ocean view, with no guests, just the officiant and two photographers, and keep it a secret until Christmas. Would we be willing to do this? Of course we would! I love anything that’s both secret AND romantic. I was also quite thrilled that they made photography a top priority at their wedding.

Plans were made and emails exchanged, and the time came (in October) for this engagement session. It quickly became very clear that Jill and Chase are meant to be together. They were afraid they’d get nervous in front of the camera, but it didn’t take long for their feelings for each other to cause them to forget everything else. They couldn’t stop smiling at each other and kissing each other, which was just perfect for the purposes of the shoot.

We took them to Big Basin Redwoods State Park and had them reenact the proposal, and tried out all kinds of ideas for poses throughout the park. Jill and Chase were great sports about this and went along with every weird idea we thought up. There are lots of beautiful spots to work with at Big Basin, and we will definitely be taking couples here again, if they’re up for the long-ish drive.

We couldn’t resist taking them to the beach afterwards and getting a few shots there. It was a whole afternoon of driving and shooting, which we don’t normally do for engagement sessions. But because I knew we had a genuine case of true love here, I wanted to take as many photos as possible. And it’s always nice to hang out with new friends under those tall trees.

Here are some more photos from their engagement session; I’ll post some of their wedding photos in a few days.

Thanks for choosing us, Jill and Chase. It’s been a wonderful adventure to work with you two.

UPDATE: Jill and Chase got married! Read about it by clicking here.