Adam is a grade school teacher and coaches high school basketball.  Debbie is finishing up med school and will be a pediatrician.  They both love working with kids and wanted to incorporate that in their engagement session.  I didn’t want to blatantly shoot at a school, but instead bring the feeling and elements of childhood to the shoot.  I wanted just playful touches to a still romantic shoot.  This is a love story after all.

I gave Debbie the chalk board and had her surprise all of us with a message… so cute!

My favorite part about engagement sessions is seeing this very innocent and pure love that couples share.  It’s beautiful to watch them start this amazing journey in life together.

Debbie brought theses stars and cranes that she had folded for Adam.

See that crane from above?  See below… that’s the wing of the crane coming at my lens.  haha.

Below was Adam’s surprise message to Debbie:

Debbie also made these pinwheels.  The arts & crafts from grade school really comes in handy!

They are such a gorgeous couple, and they are just as beautiful inside as they are outside.  Her perfect hair & makeup was done by Angie Pham.

I love the laughter in the above photo and how they’re looking at each other in the below photo.  So sweet!

Can’t wait for their wedding in June!

Pinar and Michael have the cutest story.  They met in Las Vegas while Pinar was living there and it was love at first sight.  Instant chemistry.  Unfortunately, Pinar had already bought a one way ticket home to Turkey for 3 months later.  She thought it was so sad that she met the perfect man and then leave so soon.  After being back in Turkey for a few months, Michael asks her to meet him in Rome.  While there, he proposes!  She says yes!  …but she still lives in Turkey & he in the US.  Another few months go by and Michael surprises her in Turkey.  He literally swept her off her feet and took her back to the US!   They are seriously so so cute together and SO in love.  Just look at the way they look at each other…

I love this stairway!  Such pretty colors!

…and a random jogger that ran between us.

so sweet together, right?  There were moments where she would just squeal, “I’m so in love with this man!”

So on their first date, they went on a cruise.  Michael brought along a backgammon board just in case there was nothing to do.  Little did he know, Pinar has grown up playing backgammon all her life!  Pinar beat him in that first game.  He claims her winning streak is over.  She says she’s still undefeated.  I just think it’s cute. 

Above is a detail shot of the beautiful backgammon/checker board she got from Turkey.  Designs are made from mother-of-pearls and gold-plated metal.  Look at how they “crimped” the wire on the checker board!  I don’t play, but I want one just because it’s so beautiful!

And above is the house “trophy”.  It has the scores from their last game, which has him as the winner.  I love how proud Michael looks and how Pinar looks like, “oh please.”

A quick game?

But in the end, it’s really just all fun and games, right?

We then headed down for a walk on the beach.  They live just a few blocks from here.

Their little thing is “I love you… plus 50.”  I thought that was funny because Jonathan and I actually do that too, but only “plus one.”  or two.  lol.

We picked up this cool pinwheel at a kite store on the pier.  It’s now going into their garden!

Beautiful night, wasn’t it?  And this last photo just makes me giggle.