Siegel Thurston Photography

Nicole and Mark are one of the sweetest couples we have the fortune of calling our friends so when Mark called and wanted us to document their Santa Barbara Proposal we were ecstatic.    Nicole used to live in Santa Barbara and one of her favorite places to spend a quiet afternoon was at Franceschi park up in the hills of Montecito.  With the stunning panoramic view of Down town Santa Barbara and its peaceful secluded location we can completely understand why it’s one of Nicole’s favorite nooks.  So Mark had the spot all picked out for the proposal but he just needed a good reason to venture up to Santa Barbara without raising Nicole’s suspicions.  As it happened, Nicole purchased tickets for a Sunday concert in Santa Barbara opening up the perfect opportunity for Mark.

We made sure to get to Franceschi park early so that we could pick out the perfect hiding spots.  Mark had sent us some pictures of exactly where he was going to get down on one knee and we just had to hope Nicole didn’t choose her own route and stumble upon us camped out with our camera gear.  Brett found a large cluster of succulents to conceal himself behind with a view of both the parking lot and down to the overlook Mark planned to propose at.  I was able to hide in the doorway of the old Franceschi house that stands in the middle of the park.  As the minutes ticked closer to go time our hearts began beating faster and we were aware of every noise.  Finally Brett spotted Mark’s car pulling up and it was time for our A game.

We could hear Nicole’s heels clicking along the path and their casual laughing banter before we could see them coming.  They almost took the wrong path and stumbled across Brett behind his bush but finally veered onto the correct course.   Mark must have been so nervous, as I imagine most everyone is before they propose because he managed to say most of his speech before remembering to get down on one knee, which was the cue for us to jump out and start photographing.  Well he certainly surprised Nicole because when he first went down on one knee she thought he was tying his shoe, until he pulled the ring out of his back pocket.  She was so excited and it was so much fun capturing their proposal.

After Nicole called all her family members to announce the big news and had a few minutes to enjoy the view we took them around the park for some fun portraits.  I  mean they were all dressed up and in a beautiful location so why not.

We have known Aniket for many years and we were so excited when he told us he was ready to propose to long time girlfriend Melissa.  He wanted it to be a total surprise and enlisted our help in forming a plan.  Many elaborate proposal plans were though up and it finally came down to something simple a beautiful.  They came out for a long weekend over Brett’s Birthday, this way there would be no suspicions about all of our friends gathering together and a perfectly good reason to dress up and go out to a nice dinner.  And I mean photographers always bring their cameras for birthday dinners right?  Well we timed it just perfect on the way to dinner so that Aniket and Melissa were walking under the Gilbert Water Tower right as the sun was setting.  One minute we were all strolling down the street and the next  Aniket was down on one knee proposing.  It was simple yet beautiful and Melissa had no idea it was coming.  Success!  Well you guessed it she said yes and we couldn’t be happier for them!

We had so much fun with Becky and Marshall photographing their Scottsdale Engagement Session.  They wanted something a little rustic and different so we headed over to Market Street at DC Ranch.  This shopping center is just a photographers dream.  We started under the huge rustic covered bridge that leads into the plaza.  It is all rusty and awesome with tons of wonderful shade for portraits  from there we explored the shopping center and enjoyed the plethora of different textures.  Becky and Marshall are one of those couples that just make your job as a photographer so easy.  They are just so fun and so in love, that you can’t take a bad picture of these two.  After a great session exploring Market Street we picked a cute restaurant and sat down for a bite to eat and some great conversation with Becky and Marshall.  Its always fun getting to spend a little extra time with our couples.