Mandee & Doug's Engagement Session

On Sunday I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement session with Mandee & Doug. Though it was quite a trek to Temecula, I was so glad that Mandee decided to have the shoot at the Ponte Vineyard. It’s a great vineyard with beautiful grounds, and the people who work there were so nice to let us shoot though they were having a wedding there that day.

Mandee and Doug will be getting married in April at the Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells, CA. My great friend Hillary works at the Miramonte and was kind enough to refer Mandee to me because she was having such a hard time finding a photographer in that area. I’m so grateful to Hillary for the referral because Mandee, Doug and I totally hit it off right away. It may have been partly due to the fact that they had been wine-tasting before I even arrived, but they were so laid back and were willing to do whatever for the photos… even kiss each other repeatedly, as Mandee pointed out throughout the shoot. 🙂

These are my favorite shots of the day.

How can you have a shoot at a vineyard and not enjoy a little of the “local flavor”?

I had never been wine-tasting before, so Mandee and Doug insisted that I join them for a round. Mandee even bought me a souvenir wine glass to take home! That was beyond thoughtful– Thanks you guys! Here is a shot of our mid-shoot cheers:

The Ponte has this great room that has walls stacked to the top with wine barrels! Though they were having a reception in the room that evening, the great people of the Ponte allowed us to go in and shoot for a few minutes. Here’s my absolute favorite from that series.

megamind film

I had us start a little earlier than normal because I had never been to the site before and wasn’t sure how much time we would need before sunset. So, the light was a little harsh in the beginning, but I absolutely love this shot because of that.