When my wife was put on maternity leave earlier this week we wanted to use her flexible schedule to go see some family up in Oregon, snap up some maternity photos and basically relax a little before the house gets more hectic. We planned on taking our time on this road trip since Vienna is a toddler and it would suck for her to be strapped in a car seat for 8-12 hours a day. The first stop we planned on making was in Santa Cruz, California which is close to where my friends Keith and Crystal live. Since I am lucky enough to be photographing their wedding next year we decided to use this road trip to rest in Santa Cruz on the first leg of the journey and hammer out their engagement photos. It honestly worked out perfectly. We drank beers, cruised around Wilder Ranch Park, talked about Donald Trump, subsequently talked shit on Trump, became a little sad when we realized Donald Trump could actually become President, drank more beer in awkward contemplation about life with a President Trump and basically snapped photographs throughout the entire day. Since I can no longer write about depressing Trump-related things, let’s just all grab a drink, enjoy the good things in life and give a cheers to Keith and Crystal!

All the above engagement photos were captured in Santa Cruz, California on the beach and at Wilder Ranch State Park. The IPAs and Jamaican Red Stripe beers were provided by the local Santa Cruz liquor stores which all seem to be operated by people I would classify as a mix between hippies and stoners, but overall excellent human beings. Cheers again to Keith and Crystal!

Copyright Protected: Palm Springs Wedding Photographer and Destination Wedding Photographer Ryan Horban