That being said, I think choosing a great spot is the most important decision to make when it comes to engagement photos. The location should suit your style and your own idea of engagement photos. Whether you would like to do them at a neat park, in a forest, at a beach, in an urban environment or at some rather unusual places depends on your individual taste.

Maybe there is a place that has a meaning to you or matches your wedding theme. Ask yourself if there is such a place and if it would be the right choice for doing photos there. What would be a good location? Let me give you an idea: 

Here is a short and certainly incomplete list of
Great engagement photo locations in the San Francisco Bay Area:

SAN FRANCISCO

- Golden Gate Park -

I would call it a classic for engagement photos. It has multiple beautiful areas with benches, fountains, lawn, etc – even a Japanese Tea Garden. The best point to start is the Music Concourse which is located between the deYoung Museum and the Academy of Sciences. Everything is within walking distance and the weather is usually moderate.

Disadvantages: can be pretty crowded on sunny weekend days. Usually the area clears out a bit by 5pm (in the summer).
Find it on Google Maps:  Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA
Parking: Free street parking (up to 4h) on Martin Luther King Jr Drive, paid parking garage under the concourse, JFK Drive closed for traffic on weekends.

- Baker Beach -

Not the whitest sand and often times kind of crowded but people go here for one reason: you can see the Golden Gate Bridge. Often done in a combination of Golden Gate Park photos as it’s only a 10 minute drive between those two places.

Disadvantages: Not much else going on here. I wouldn’t recommend doing an entire engagement session at this location.
Find it on Google Maps: Gibson Rd at Bowley St, San Francisco, CA 
Parking: Free parking close to the beach. 

- Legion of Honor Museum -

If you like columns and old European-style architecture the Legion of Honor might be a good spot. Of course, you cannot do engagement photos inside the museum but the building and its surrounding area is beautiful.

Disadvantages: Small area, might not be sufficient for a 2 hour photo session. Often times fog suddenly comes in, can add to the photos though.
Find it on Google Maps: 100 34th Avenue, San Francisco, CA
Parking: Free street parking plus free parking lot, but can be challenging to find a spot.

- Palace of Fine Arts -

Another classic San Francisco engagement location. The adjacent park is a bit crowded and also surrounded by parking cars on all sides. There are some other nice spots close-by: The park at LucasArts in the south, the Crissy Field from where you have a clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the little marina in the north with the Wave Organ at the end of the jetty. There is also a narrow beach with Golden Gate Bridge views but on a sunny weekend day it is so overcrowded that it’s just ridiculous to do photos there.

Disadvantages: Super crowded on weekends. The different locations (Crissy Field, Wave Organ) are too far away from each other to be walked within reasonable time and driving around is just a pain on the weekends because the whole Mason Street and surrounding streets are heavily congested with traffic.
Find it on Google Maps: Lyon Street at Palace Drive, San Francisco, CA
Parking: Free parking near the Palace, the Yacht Club or near Crissy Field Center.

- Cliff House -

It’s not about the Cliff House itself, but the adjacent Sutro Heights Park provides some nice views over Ocean Beach and the Richmond/Sunset neighborhood. There is also Ocean Beach close by and the rather unusual Sutro Baths area. 

Disadvantages: Walking between the different points of interest is not too bad but still eats time and requires some thoughts about what to do ahead of time. I would say that none of the locations by itself is sufficient enough for a two hour photo session.
Find it on Google Maps: 1090 Point Lobos Ave, San Francisco, CA
Parking: There are a couple of free parking lots along Point Lobos Ave plus street parking. Can be challenging to find a free spot during peak hours on the weekends.

- Henrik’s Point -

I was really pondering if this area northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge should be listed under “Great Engagement Locations” or not. Yes, it is very diverse, has some old post-World War II structures and I’d take every San Francisco visitor there because of the most spectacular view of the Bridge. Well, a view that is too fenced off and often crippled with myriads of tourists having cameras on tripods, to get a good shot of someone standing in front of the bridge (compared to the above locations). Close by is the Cavallo Point lodge with its Presidio-style buildings and the (often closed) Point Bonita Lighthouse.

Disadvantages: Horrible parking situation, many tourists and you definitely need an alternative location for the other 50-70% of the photo session.
Find it on Google Maps: Conzelman Rd at Kirby Cove Rd, Sausalito, CA
Parking: Free, but parking there on the weekends – are you kidding me? It just has way too many people visiting this place for the few available spots.

- Fort Mason -

If you like a rather unusual last century industrial-style kind of engagement shoot then you might want to consider Fort Mason in San Francisco’s north. It has old buildings, lots of shades, structures and a little park, Fort Mason Green very close by. This area of San Francisco is usually not too cold nor windy.

Disadvantages: Diverse but kind of small-ish area, rather something for a 1 to 1.5 hour photoshoot.
Find it on Google Maps: Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
Parking: Free parking at Marina Blvd or on-site and usually not problematic. 

- Downtown San Francisco -

I really like downtown San Francisco for its diversity and photo opportunities. There is the Embarcadero, Ferry Building, Pier 1.5, the small park at Clay and Drumm… and and and. Lots of shaded areas too. If you can imagine a downtown theme for your engagement photos I highly recommend it.

Disadvantages: Hectic surrounding, working around cars and people.
Find it on Google Maps: The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 
Parking: You better do some research on parking garages or you might end up broke after paying for parking… or take the BART.

PENINSULA

- Fort Funston -

An amazing location on the southwest border of San Francisco. It has a rich diversity of beautiful landscape, pathways, beach, bizarre WWII structures and more. Even on the weekends it is not too crowded and the area is not one of the overshot classic photo locations where dozens of photographers take their clients every week.

Disadvantages: You need to hike a bit as the area is pretty large. And there is likely some wind blowing and it might be chilly. So not the right location for a shot with high heels and cocktail dress.
Find it on Google Maps: Fort Funston Road, San Francisco, CA
Parking: Free and lots of free spots. 

- Montara State Beach -

One of the many deserted beaches along coastal highway #1. And one of my favorites. No matter what time of the day there are only few people at this beach which has some small “canyons” on the side.

Disadvantages: Rough wind, not much diversity – it’s a pure beach shot.
Find it on Google Maps: 8150 Cabrillo Highway Montara Beach, CA
Parking: Free and plenty. 

- Pigeon Point Lighthouse -

The same as Montara State Beach, just let me throw in an old lighthouse. The lighthouse is fenced off but there are some buildings (hostel) around it that can make for some more diversity in the photos.

Disadvantages: Rough wind, pretty far south on the Peninsula and some tourists hanging out.
Find it on Google Maps: 210 Pigeon Point Road, South Coastside, CA
Parking: Free

- Capitola -

Beach, wharf, railway tracks. What do you want more?

Disadvantages: Not many. Kind of far away, I might need to charge some travel costs.
Find it on Google Maps: Capitola, CA
Parking: Metered parking along Cliff Drive, good for a couple of hours and not very expensive but don’t forget to bring quarters.

- Santa Cruz -

A little bit like Capitola – maybe less cozy and dreamy but more diverse: There is the Walton Lighthouse and the famous Boardwalk. And of course: beach.

Disadvantages: Same as with Capitola – great location but far away and will add travel costs.
Find it on Google Maps: Santa Cruz, CA
Parking: At the marina or free street parking, at the Boardwalk mostly paid parking.

EASTBAY

- Berkeley University -

Nice campus, old buildings = lots of photo opportunities.

Disadvantages: It’s an university campus, so there can be events happening or lots of students running around between classes.
Find it on Google Maps: University Ave at Oxford Street, Berkeley, CA
Parking: Not on campus and you need to pay.

- Piedmont Community Park -

This location is a hidden gem for portrait photography. It has a very neat park area, a little fountain and lots of other stuff – even some redwood trees.

Disadvantages: Not much comes to mind here. It’s an amazing location. Maybe a little bit small but still diverse enough for an entire session.
Find it on Google Maps: 711 Highland Avenue, Piedmont, CA
Parking: Free parking lot on the northeast corner.

Note: Photographers, please do respect that these locations are public grounds and meant for recreational or other use for the community. Do not set-up any lighting equipment as this might obstruct others and requires you to obtain a photo permit. I am not responsible for your actions and you need to check by yourself whether or not you need to obtain a permit for your photo projects. Thank you.

Wedding reception at the Hilton Santa Clara

DJ and light setup by Tony Villalobos from Elite Entertainment, Sunnyvale / 408-733-8833

Photo booth by kandidSnap Photo Booths / 510-402-6403

Don’t miss Cindy and Tony’s Engagement Photos in Hakone Gardens! > Click here <

It’s a boy!!!

Wedding officiant Carolina Poblano: www.blissfully-yours.net Nik is not only the best man but also a wedding photographer. If you need a photographer in the Cleveland / Northeast Ohio area check out his website: iconic-photo.com

Check out their engagement photos in Golden Gate Park: http://schwarzenfeldphotography.com/blog/leslie-and-mike/

Will you get the digital files?

This is the most important advice I can give you. There are many different wedding packages but I would never ever go with one where I don’t get the digital image files handed out on a DVD/CD/USB drive/download. And they have to be in high resolution and without any watermark! And make sure that you don’t have to pay extra for getting those files.
Yes, some photographers hold your photos hostage and you have to buy prints or pay extra to get the digital files. Why? Because it’s a rip-off! The only person who benefits from that is the photographer. It’s an old business model, a survivor of the film age (when it kind of made sense because there were no digital files). Some photographers are stuck on this model and still using it to squeeze some extra money out of their clients every time they order prints.

Even if prints are important to you, don’t buy yourself into anything where you don’t get the freedom of reproducing print products from the images you paid for. Yes, YOU ALREADY PAID for those photos!

Some photographer might tell you that you will get better prints when you order from him. Well, if you order from bad photo labs (including walking to your local retailer), that might be the case. Just make your order at a good lab (e.g. Mpix.com or Bayphoto.com) and you’re golden.

How long is the turnaround time for the photos?

If this is important to you or not depends how long you are willing to wait for your photos. Most photographers need a couple of weeks to get them ready, some even more. That’s okay if it’s okay for you and you did know about this before.

I recently had a chat at a party with someone about his wedding which was two months ago at that time, and I asked him if he was satisfied with the pictures his photographer made. A little bit bummed, he told me he doesn’t know yet. He was still waiting for his pictures and I just thought “Jeez… are you serious…?!”.

How many pictures do you get?

Sometimes I read stuff like “unlimited pictures” on photo package descriptions. Sounds good, but what does that even mean? You should ask for the amount of pictures you can expect, but be aware that nobody will be able to definitely predict a certain number of pictures. Every event is different and sometimes a wedding is over after a couple of hours and there was no bouquet throwing, the ceremony 4 minutes and the first dance 2 minutes long and the output maybe 350 pictures.

So it will be a good guess but you should expect not less than 300 and not more than about 900 pictures. Why not more? Because someone giving you that many photos won’t have them all edited that well and even if – sorting them out to a reasonable number is part of being a good photographer. And a good photographer will be able to give you an estimate of how many pictures to expect.

How long is the photographer in business?

That is something you might want to figure out: How long is this guy taking wedding pictures and how many weddings has he shot.
We all started at some point and I wouldn’t say the more weddings the better – at least not to a certain point. If you get a good rate and he has great photos in his portfolio you could give it a shot even if it’s his 10th wedding. It’s ultimately a questions of your budged and his price-tag. The missing experience must reflect in his pricing though and you should ask for some more pictures, maybe a complete album he has shot.

At some point I dare to say you might even be better off with someone not being that long in business. Why? Because that means this guy started in the digital age and is maybe more up-to-date and creative about shooting styles than some of the photographers who will tell you that they have shot already 400 or more weddings for the last 20 years. Seriously, I’m not saying this is automatically the case, but amongst the worst, boring and awfully edited photos I have seen on other photographers websites, were made by photographers shooting half their lives with film cameras.

And I tell you why I’m writing that: Not because I disrespect the experience of a photo veteran having shot dozens and hundreds of weddings on film, but the style simply changed. You take more pictures today, you document the whole event, you need to be creative when it comes to posing – just taking the picture with a nice background is not enough anymore. You break some of the traditional rules (like shooting into the sun instead of with it) and the whole equipment changed. The most important thing though is, that the final picture today just starts with the light hitting the sensor, but the rest is digital editing. And for that you need skills that didn’t exist 10 years ago.

Are there reviews or testimonials?

Check if he has a Yelp page with reviews or ask for other testimonials from clients. While with the latter one you never know if a friend wrote this, the Yelp reviews are a good indicator on how pleased former clients were with his service.

Do you like his pictures?

His pictures were most likely the first thing you saw and (together with the price) the most important factor for your decision. As a photographer I challenge you to take a second look and ask yourself:

Is the picture so great because of the subject (e.g. attractive people in front of an old castle) or because of the picture itself (color balance, exposure, composition etc)?

Does it look so good because it is in black and white? We all love the feel of black and white pictures but they are also a great way of making a mediocre picture look great. No need to worry about color balance or grain/noise.

Is he using extremely heavy vignetting in the photos or are they over-edited (unnatural, inconsistent colors etc)? That’s amateurish and a good photographer doesn’t go crazy with digital effects.

A small picture always looks good. Any blurry and grainy picture will look great in small resolution but if you enlarge it, it might be not that amazing anymore.

Is he showing off his wedding photos or is it a nice picture of the Golden Gate Bridge… or his cats? Posing a good wedding photo and getting the right moment framed is something different than taking pictures of… all other things.

What equipment will he use?

A valid question before signing the contract might be what equipment he will use. While it doesn’t matter if he is shooting with Canon or Nikon, you should be sure that the camera isn’t totally out of date and he is not operating with the kit-lens that came with it. You can check prices on Amazon even if you are not a camera geek!

The price of his equipment should reflect in his pricing. You won’t get a photographer with $25k equipment for $1k and a photographer with $5k equipment shouldn’t ask for $2.5k rates.

Most important thing about his equipment: He should at least have two cameras and bring them to your wedding.

Can he show a complete album to you?

Seeing the selection of his best 30 pictures in his portfolio is a good start but to make a judgement on the consistency of his quality you might want to ask for a complete set of pictures – I’m talking about a whole wedding.

Is there an option for a second photographer?

Even if you don’t want to book this right away, knowing if he can offer this option is a good thing to ask. A second photographer can make sense especially for the ceremony. It won’t make it cheaper though, that’s for sure.

How much do you have to pay in advance?

It is common that you have to put down a prepayment to reserve the date. Often called retainer. The difference is, that in case you cancel the wedding/the photographer you won’t get that back. Sounds cruel but is fair enough because often times the photographer has to turn down other wedding requests for the same day. The retainer should be appropriate and putting down a high amount before the guy did even show up on your wedding – I don’t know if I would do that.

Are there hidden costs and how long is the coverage time?

Read the contract carefully and ask when talking about the pricing if that is the final amount you have to pay. Sometimes you might want to change the hours to cover some additional hours. Make sure that he will do that without charging big time extra.

Will he ask you before using your photos somewhere?

If you don’t want your pictures on his website that needs to be in the contract, maybe in the ‘copyrights’ section. At least you should be able to approve the ones that will be public later. It’s not a bad idea and a fair gesture to let him show his work: It’s the only way for a photographer to attract new clients. And I have to say this: the motivation to make outstanding pictures will most likely be higher when he knows that this work will be later public on his website.

Is there a pricing on his website?

I’m a big fan of transparency when it comes to pricing. I know that this might kill some chances of individually asking higher prices but that’s okay. Some photographers would try to figure out how much you are going to spend overall for your wedding and adjust the pricing to that.

Did your wedding venue management act as a broker?

One of the first things you will probably figure out about your wedding is the where. Photographers know that and if you are one, the most valuable thing to do is to leave your business card there. Some venues will be nice and just pass your business card along to couples checking out the location, others will try to make some extra money.
A manger of a golf club in the Bay Area I talked to, told me how it’s going to work: The couple pays $1500 to the manger and he orders the photographer who gets $900. Seriously? So the manager makes an extra $600 for doing nothing. In other words: The couple pays him $600 to get a $900 value.

Do you like him?

If possible you should meet him before and figure out if you like him. Of course you don’t need to become best friends but you both will spend some time with him and he will be with you the whole wedding day. Another good way to figure out if you would like to go with him would be to schedule an engagement session before.

Don’t get fooled!

I have seen many photographers websites, a lot of them simply great – but also I have seen much stuff which made me think “seriously, bro?”. Amongst the worst stuff was a photographer saying he is shooting with analog film and then scanning the paper photos to get digital files and he wrote “this is the best possible quality and don’t let anyone tell you something different!”. Yep, I tell you something different…
Another thing that really bothered me was a photography studio writing that they went green: “We are using digital cameras so we reduce the amount of film and chemicals!”. Wow, I’m deeply impressed guys…

Well, this could go on but I think you read so many words already that I will conclude to say: Don’t get fooled. By soft website music, praising self-descriptions and allegedly “award-winning” photography. Check the pictures, check the price and make sure it’s the right photographer for you.

Good luck!

At the Riverview Park‎, Pittsburg, CACatering: Meda’s Catering / 925-301-7497The DJ made a great job and was very pro-active in communicating with me throughout the entire reception. Déjà Vu Entertainment Productions / San Francisco – http://www.dejavudjs.com/