I had photographed couples before, but an actual engagement session felt different. I knew these photos were going to be really meaningful to them, and I wanted to make the most of the opportunity they were giving me.

So naturally, I did what any photographer does when they're trying to prepare for something new:

I went to Instagram.

Then Pinterest.

Then probably Instagram again.

I was saving poses, looking at locations, thinking about how I wanted the session to feel, and trying to put together a vision for what I wanted to create.

And then came the hardest part: Finding a location.

I was in my first year of grad school at the time, had moved around quite a bit over the past few years, and hadn't really established my photography business in Southern California.

Even though I'm from California, I realized pretty quickly that I didn't actually know that many locations anymore.

They wanted a field, and I had a general idea of what we were going for. But finding the spot was proving to be a little harder than expected.

Eventually, I found a little area along Live Oak Canyon Road in Redlands.

If you're from the Redlands/ Yucaipa area, you probably know exactly what road I'm talking about.

There are so many beautiful properties along there, but a lot of them are private. We were basically driving around looking for something that would work, and we eventually found this little field on the side of the road next to some of those properties.

And honestly?

It wasn't exactly what I had pictured.

It was kind of dead. It wasn't nearly as lush as some of the locations I had been seeing online. But there were a few sunflowers scattered around, so we worked with what we had.

And I think that's one of the things I love about photography now, figuring out how to make something work even when it isn't exactly what you imagined.

We started shooting and were moving around the field, finding little pockets that worked.