Rapha Rides Oakland

Well, not literally.  But, Rapha shot by Alison and Adm rides Oakland!  OK, let me back up a moment.  Lately, Adm has really been into riding his bike, and lucky for him, we have a whole slew of friends who are hardcore cyclists.  One in particular, our friend and neighbor Rob, introduced us to Rapha a couple of years ago.  Rapha is a high-end bicycle clothing company based in Europe, and they produce catalogs that have amazingly beautiful photography.  Last year, we decided to do a Rapha-inspired photo shoot with Rob (in his Rapha gear) in our own Oakland hills, which in my opinion are just as beautiful as some of those European landscapes that are featured in the the real Rapha catalogs.

This was unlike any other shoot we've done, and it was just a personal shoot for us to have fun with.  We went up to the hills really early on a wet Sunday last February, when the roads were empty and slick with the rain.  Adm and I took turns driving the car in front of Rob, who rode behind us.  We each spent time hanging out of the back of our car (luckily it's a hatchback), gripping onto the sides while taking photos.  Katy, Rob's wife, acted as our stylist, and we all had a blast turning the Oakland hills into our studio.  There are so many other great rides in the Bay Area that we can't wait to go out again!  All of the photos in this set were taken by both Adm and me.

Laura + Jason Engagement

Jason_Laura_E_68 Laura and Jason are one of our 2010 couples who we met through Hillary and Matt.  They wanted more of a natural look surrounded by lots of trees so we began their engagement session at the Redwood Bowl in the Oakland hills.  It started off a bit cold and gloomy with some technical difficulties, but by the time we got things rolling, the sun came out as we hit Butters Peak so that we had some gorgeous light and fantastic views of the bay.  Laura and Jason are so easygoing and had such wonderful and natural laughs and smiles throughout the shoot.  We're really looking forward to their wedding next spring, which will consist of a two-day affair in their hometown Visalia.

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