Chris & Karen at Marian Bear Trail Engagement Session

Marian Bear is one of my favorite trails to photograph around San Diego, and I couldn't be happier to document Chris and Karen's love there. It was a gorgeous day, and nothing better than a hike on a beautiful trail to watch the sun go down behind the mountains.

Karen and Chris are a very adventurous couple that enjoys the outdoors, especially hikes. When we started talking about their engagement session, they knew the type of location they wanted: raw nature, with lots of tall trees and logs. They mentioned Marian Bear was a trail they love hiking, but they wanted to check on other options.

Chris proposed to Karen during a (much more difficult) hike in Ecuador. It's a great story that shows how much nature and hiking are part of their lives. It's always interesting when couples can incorporate aspects of their lives into their engagement sessions. I feel like it makes the session much more unique and meaningful.

I made a few suggestions, and Karen and Chris said they wanted to scout a few locations before making the final decision. It's great when the clients take their time to check for possible engagement session locations.

Chris emailed me they found the perfect three they would like to use for their engagement session at Marian Bear Trail. Long and thick branches that would easily allow them to sit for the perfect photo. But he said it was quite a walk to get to this three. I agreed to the adventure and felt confident that after doing extensive research, Chris would love the shot.

I have photographed at Marian Bear Trail before, but not in the area Chris and Karen were interested in. It was a long hike, but there were many great places to stop for the engagement photos. I was excited about the opportunity to photograph a new location. Being a San Diego engagement photographer is incredible, and even though I've photographed in almost all of the popular spots, there's always something new to see.

We started the trail with Chris leading the way. He was excited to arrive at the tree he had scouted, but there were still many places to stop before arriving there.

The trail was a great choice and was very green. We had more rain than the average in San Diego this winter, so it's the perfect time for outdoor nature engagement sessions. Flowers are blooming, and plants are green and growing strong at Marian Bear trail. It was a couple of hours before sunset, so the lighting filtered by the tall trees brought perfect conditions to this Marian Bear engagement session.

I could tell that Chris and Karen had a great connection, and I didn't have a problem getting some fun shots. They smiled very easily and frequently throughout the session, making things go smoothly. Chris also knew how to make Karen laugh really hard, which always makes for some great photos.

After hiking for about 45 minutes and stopping in many great locations, we finally arrived at the tree Chris found. It was a very cool tree, just like he described, and I was envisioning it. We got them both sitting on one of the logs for one of my favorite San Diego engagement photos ever! The couple casually sitting on that tree, with the sun behind, gives a surreal, almost magical feel to this photo. After exploring some angles, I thanked Chris for bringing me to this incredible place.

We started hiking back and got to the beginning of the trail before dark. I felt accomplished and was sure I got some great shots from Karen and Chris' San Diego engagement session.

I've been an engagement session photographer in San Diego and beyond for almost 20 years, and I would love to talk about your goals and ideas for your session. Please click here to view my engagement session portfolio. If you’re looking for some tips on how to make your engagement session better, please click here.