When I first met Karina, we had an instant connection. You see our boys are both in the military. Tyler was deployed with the Army National Guard and my husband was gone at training, so I think our hearts recognized each other because they were in a similar ache. I think we may have even cried together during that first meeting (okay, we totally did)!

I’ve always been drawn to couples that are in or have gone through long distance. It’s not a route for the faint of heart so I admire the couples that have been through it and decided their relationship was worth pursuing despite the miles.
Obviously, I’m biased because my own relationship has dealt with a lot of distance but even before my own experiences, I was intrigued by long distance relationships.
Side bar: Ironically, it is not uncommon for my personality type to be in a long distance relationship. I am literally wired for it. Apparently, I love the idea of proving my love despite challenges. (16 personalities test, it’s a good one, you should take it!) SO, clearly there is a special place in my heart for couples that have fought through distance!

But even before all of that, I knew Karina and Tyler were a special couple. When we first spoke on the phone, I could hear the admiration in Karina’s voice when she spoke about Tyler. If I could feel their love just through a phone call, I could only imagine how amazing it would be to actually photograph their love in person.
I was right.

For their engagement session we met near Blacks Beach at sunrise, they brought me a hazelnut latte without even having to ask and the rest of the morning only went up from there!
The entire cliff side was ours, there wasn’t a soul in sight (one of the many benefits to a sunrise session). We had music playing as we wandered our way along the cliffs before hiking down to the beach.

One of my favorite parts of their engagement session was how little direction I had to give them. Every sweet interaction you see between them in these photos has VERY little to do with me and all to do with the way they interact with each other. It probably helps that they had been doing long distance for awhile and just a few days before their engagement session they were reunited again so they were definitely in a love bubble during their session!

I think I could have photographed these two in a garage and their love for each other would have shined right through it all and the photos would have been perfect. To me, these photos are so much more than a couple in front of a beautiful background, it’s all about the energy between them.
I CANNOT WAIT for their May wedding!

If you loved these photos then you NEED to check out The Ultimate San Diego Engagement Session!