Posted by: ROB View More: TRAVEL PHOTOS San Francisco has always been a place we have wanted to go. It has always been an intriguing city to me from the hippie vibe it has to the history behind Alcatraz, to the Golden Gate Bridge and of course (and maybe most importantly) the food. This city has certainly lived up to the hype. The architecture was incredible, the food (oh the food) was unbelievable, and the energy of this city definitely makes us want to go back many more times. We really enjoyed exploring the sights, driving on the crazy hills and letting ourselves get immersed in the culture and energy. Here are just some of our many many photos from San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.

We LOVED the fog over the Golden Gate Bridge early in the morning, it made for such a moody feel.

Ok so let me explain. We really enjoy watching the show "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. He seems so down-to-earth and we really like the way that he goes to places off the tourist path. We watched the San Francisco episode right before we left and thought it would be fun to hit up some of the places that Anthony Bourdain went. The first place was a coffee house / radio station. Their specialty is a Maple Bacon Latte, yes you heard right, BACON latte. He talked about it on the show so of course I had to order one.

Here it is in all of its glory, bacon fat and bits all mixed into a incredibly strong cup of coffee and the craziest thing was that it was surprisingly good.

Kathleen waiting for me to finish my bacon coffee. :)

We really loved all of the artful graffiti through the city. It gives the city a very fun feel.

Of course we had to hit up some of the touristy areas...

From the top of Lombard street, there were really great views of the Bay Bridge and the city.

I have to say, I was obsessed with all of the hills of this city, more to come later on in this post.

We headed down by the water...

...and although did not make it out to the island, had pretty cool views of Alcatraz.

We headed over to Haight Street where our friends Vicki & Erik suggested we go for some really delicious Thai food. The neighborhood was a lot of fun and to be honest we could have stayed there all day just photographing the area.

Doesn't this bring back memories of Full House... HA!

We headed over to a very random area to get this shot of the bridge. We had to climb to get it and Im not sure if we were supposed to be there but hey, all for the photo!

Double Double Animal Style anyone? :)

China Town in San Francisco was SO much fun to photograph... especially with the D3s! :)

We went over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, this is San Francisco from across the water.

When we got back into San Francisco, we we up to the hills so I could photograph the how steep and crazy they actually are. These roads were really something to drive on, both up an down.

How much fun is this one! :)

After leaving San Francisco we spent a couple nights in the town of Half Moon Bay. On our way we found this beach surrounded by cliffs off of the PCH. It was about 150 steps down but totally worth it.

We saw this sign on the way back up. Look past the graffati and stickers and take a close look at the picture telling you what to do... seriously where are you going to go in a place where you are surrounded by mountains and not much else.

The view from our hotel.

Sunset over the water our last night in Half Moon Bay.

Posted by: ROB View More: TRAVEL PHOTOS The last three times that we have been to California it has been for photo shoots. We have been incredibly lucky to photograph destination engagement sessions in Malibu, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Each time we have been out in California we have ached to go back and really spend some time there. From our time working out there, we have seen only small parts of the Pacific Coast Highway, parts of LA and Hollywood but have always wanted to explore more. Around this time every year, somewhere between July and August we try to get away for a little while. It is usually right in the middle of our busy wedding season which for us is the perfect time. It allows us to prepare for the second half of the year and keeps us fresh and creative so we can be the best for all of our clients. When deciding where to go this year, we considered a lot of different options including a few days in the Carribean, Maine or possibly Europe. The fact is that every place we thought of sounded good but both Kathleen and I kept thinking about California. So the decision got much easier and we planned our trip. We of course wanted to first go to the LA area, enjoy a couple of our favorite restaurants in Santa Monica and even meet up with one of our couples, Saryn & Dave who live in the Venice Beach area. We have also always wanted to make drive north up the Pacific Coast Highway and visit San Francisco. So after we spent a few days in the LA area we made the drive up the coast from LA to San Francisco which took us about 12 and 1/2 hours. This was a truly incredible drive. Here are just some of our images from the LA and PCH part of this trip. We will be sharing our San Francisco and Half Moon Bay part of our trip in an upcoming post.

How do you like our rental car? :)

We took CA1 all the way which brought us inland for a couple of hours, through the mountains and through little California towns that reminded us of the movie Cars.

Happy cows come from California!

The water was such a beautiful deep blue, it almost looked like a painting.

The views of the coast from the PCH is something that everyone should really experience. As gorgeous as the pictures are there is no way you can really capture how amazing it is out there.

Parts of the PCH went up incredibly high into the mountains and there were not many guard rails on the roadway. But it did provide beautiful views such as these.

Posted by: ROB View More: PREVIEWS It has been a whirlwind month for Kathleen and I and it seems that everyone who we talk to agrees that this summer is simply flying by. I guess time flies the fastest when you are having fun and we have been having SO much fun at our couple's weddings and engagement sessions. Not to mention their weddings have brought us all over the place from up to the Northern Coast of Connecticut to the quaint town of Old Saybrook followed by a trip to Newport, Rhode Island. We also got the chance to stay close to home to photograph a music filled engagement session in Westport. And last but of course not least, this weekend we headed out to Long Island and Fire Island and enjoyed the beautiful weather on Saturday photographing a great wedding by the water. We have all of the stories of our couples and their special days coming up very soon. In addition as promised we will be sharing some of our recent travel photos from our trip out to the LA and San Francisco Areas. In the meantime we put together a few previews from each of our couples days below. We hope you enjoy!

I thought this would be a fun image to share. In order to get the shot I wanted of the wedding party, I had to jump into the water. Hopefully I got my legs a little more tan then they were in this photo.

Posted by: ROB & KATHLEEN View More: WEDDINGS Maybe it was the day we spent in Long Island having a bit of influence on me, but I found myself thinking about Billy Joel and one song in particular that reminded me of Sarah and Ben, "Home." It's a beautiful song (you should totally download it if you get a chance), and one line kept coming to mind as we started to go through the images for this post. "home is just another word for you." It had me thinking about them because Sarah & Ben have lived a lot of different places. All over the world, actually. In fact, when they met for the first time they were both far away from the places they were they had grown up. They both ended up at the same military base and met in linguistics class. They hit it off right away and established a deep connection, one that would stick with them no matter how many miles separated them. Lucky, too, since the time they were both in on that same base would be the longest amount of time they were actually living in the same place at the same time for quite a while. They developed a strong relationship that withstood the test of time and distance while they were deployed to different parts of the world. In fact, even by the time their wedding came along, it wasn't until days before that they were finally back together in the same place once again. After the wedding they would go back to the separate places were they were deployed, but they'll be back together again to establish a true home together - no matter where they end up living. In the meantime, they'll be right at home in the phone calls, e-mails and messages they have gotten so used to sending to one another of the course of their relationship. Because home is not so much an actual place, it's a state of mind - the true comfort you get when you have found the one person that truly makes you feel more comfortable than you ever have before. And you'll feel at home whenever you hear their voice, no matter where you are. * * * We started the day at Sarah's parent's house in Bristol, where the house was filled with positive energy while Sarah had her hair and make-up done by a sister of one of her bridesmaids. Despite the intense heat and humidity outside (their wedding was held on what was probably the hottest day in July), everyone was keeping cool and excited for the day ahead. While the make-up and hair were being finished, we took some time photographing Sarah's Casa Blanca gown. Despite the rising temperatures, Sarah was totally up for getting some shots outside before heading to St Aloysius Church in Plantsville for the ceremony where we were joined by our good friend Meaganwho photographed with us. The reception took place at Tunxis Plantation in Farmington. It was filled with tons of touches that incorporated Sarah and Ben's military backgrounds, family traditions and their sense of humor and playfulness. From Sarah's blue petticoat to the playing of the theme of "2001 Space Odyssey" during cake cutting, seeing Sarah and Ben together just made you smile. And maybe laugh a bit - their infectious energy is completely contagious.

Sarah doesn't usually have her hair and make-up done, so it was fun watching her face whenever she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror all morning.

Sarah's Casa Blanca

Doesn't Sarah look gorgeous? You can see why Ben couldn't stop thinking about her whenever they were apart.

The ceremony took place in nearby Plantsville at St Aloysius Church.

Sarah's Dad, Larry, was actually the person who scheduled us for Sarah & Ben's wedding. He has an interest in photography as well and was happy to help out his only daughter plan the wedding while she was overseas.

As you can see, Ben was looking quite good himself, especially in his military uniform.

One of things we love to look for during ceremonies are little moments like this, when a couple shares a smile right in the middle of it all - like they can't believe it's finally actually happening after months of planning.

Their first kiss as husband and wife!

Sarah & Ben's reactions to coming out to the sea of bubbles were completely priceless. Just look at the giant smiles on their faces.

Before the reception began, we had some time with just Sarah and Ben on the grounds of the Tunxis Plantation.

By the looks of the smiles on their faces you'd never know it was over 100 degrees outside.

A fun shot with the wedding party before getting ready to go inside. I love the mix of the blues and yellows - totally cheery and vibrant and perfect for summer.

Sarah loved her bright blue petticoat - it tied into the colors of the day and gave a glimpse into her fun sense of humor.

First dance and some more huge smiles - you can't deny how happy Sarah and Ben were all day long.

Sarah's father was surprisingly calm all day for a father whose only daughter was getting married - a sign that he knows she's making a good choice in Ben.

Sarah & Ben, thank you so much for inviting us to share in your day! We had such a great time with all of you!

Posted by: ROB View More: TRAVEL PHOTOS After a little over a week out in California, we are back and so excited for all of the upcoming weddings we have. As all of you know, Kathleen and I love traveling and really can't wait to show you some of our travel images from this recent trip. We visited the LA area including, Santa Monica (one of our favorite places), Venice Beach, Marina del Rey before heading up North on an absolutely amazing 12 plus hour road trip from LA to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway. We stayed in San Francisco for a couple of days, enjoying the food and sights. Wow what a cool city! After San Francisco we stayed in the ocean side town of Half Moon Bay. Here is a shot of the views from our hotel. There are SO many more to come so come back real soon! We also have some really beautiful wedding and engagements coming up. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!