A few times in recent months, I’ve driven through St. Johns, in North Portland, and thought, “I have to shoot a session here.” They’ve got beautiful Cathedral Park with the gorgeous bridge plus a cute little main street that looked so quaint. So when Julia and Ryan and I were coming up with a location for their engagement shoot, we decided to go for it. It was totally worth it — beautiful sunset light and lots of cute spots.

See now why they call it Cathedral Park? I love the St. Johns Bridge!

Julia made my day after this session by telling me that, “We have been so overwhelmed with to-dos and details, it was actually a really good reality check for me for what’s really going on here – we’re in love and getting married!”

Julia and Ryan laughed the whole time. Every time she looked at Ryan, she would start to giggle. I love that about them.

Here below, St. Johns’ cute little main street. I love the old-school signs and tree-lined street.

Julia didn’t want any kissing photos, but I egged Ryan on a little at the end of the session — just one? Just one.

Congrats, Julia and Ryan! You are such a wonderfully well-matched couple and shooting this session made my whole week.

I love my couples. I feel like the luckiest photographer in the world because I get to work with such amazing people all the time. One of those amazing couples is Kim and Patrick. They are amazing. They’re getting married in September, and when I asked what they like to do together, they only had one answer: golf.

So we met up at their golf course in Canby, where Patrick used to work and has played many, many hours. It was so fun to see them on the course, knowing that they spend so much time together out there.

Not only are Kim & Patrick warm and kind people, they’re seriously funny. And a little bit goofy. That might be my favorite combo.

Check out Patrick’s skills! He can actually bounce a golf ball on a club. I have no such golf skills.

Talk about made for each other: these two seem so happy and at ease when they’re together.

Congratulations, Kim and Patrick! I cannot wait for your September wedding!

All I have to say is, I’m glad it’s rose season. The day I met up with Katy and Justin (who are getting married in August at the coast) to do their session, the roses at the Rose Garden in Portland were in fine form — the whole place smelled like perfume and the blooms were everywhere.

Katy and Justin are a great couple. They’re always smiling and laughing, and let’s face it, they look great together.

Katy was really excited to shoot near red roses since red will be the accent color in their wedding, which is less than a month away!

Congrats, Katy and Justin! I can’t wait for your wedding. I just know it’s going to be beautiful.

I love taking engagement photos. They’re so fun and relaxed and there’s usually a lot of laughing. When I met up with Caroline and Michael to do their engagement session, all this was true, except that there were also hats. They love hats, so they thought, why not bring some along?

We ran around on a perfect summer afternoon at Portland’s Pittock Mansion. It was a great spot, especially since Caroline and Michael had never seen the place before. They just moved to Portland about three months ago, so they’re still getting to know the area.

I just love how comfortable they are together — you can tell they’ve been together for awhile and they’re totally at ease.

Congratulations, Caroline and Michael! I had a blast with you guys doing engagement photos and I can’t wait for your wedding!

I am so excited — last week, the fantastic bridal blog Brooklyn Bride featured Kim and Curt’s engagement session, shot in Waterfront Park.

I just love photographing fun couples like Kim and Curt, and I also love seeing my work featured on wedding blogs! Thanks for the feature, Vané!

You saw Kim and Curt’s engagement photos on Wednesday. Now check out some video from their session, including behind-the-scenes creation of that save-the-date series that I love so much.

Kim & Curt from Sara Gray on Vimeo.

Enjoy, and happy Friday!

Kim and Curt are the sweetest. And patient. I know they’re patient (I’m talking truly patient) because we had to reschedule this engagement session four times because of the ridiculously rainy May and June we had here in Portland. Finally, we got together early this week and we had so much fun!

Portland’s waterfront park is a special spot for these two — Curt proposed to Kim there. They’re getting married in January.

I love how much they laughed during this session. It was so genuine and made everything more fun.

Aren’t they the sweetest couple? I just about died when I saw the photo below.

They also brought along a bunch of bright letters and numbers, and we created a series for their save-the-date cards. They’re so funny!

Thanks, Kim and Curt, for being so very patient and, in the end, totally fun. I love working with you guys and I can’t wait to work with you more! Come back on Friday to see a little video action from this pair and their session.

I seriously have the best job ever. I love meeting couples in love and getting to work with them to get great photos. One of those couples is Veronica & Bret. I just did an engagement session for them over the weekend and it was so fun!

I love how in love Veronica & Bret are. They’re getting married in February in Portland.

In case you’re wondering, yes — I do regularly risk my life during photo shoots doing things like taking couples into the middle of the street.

Thanks for coming out, Veronica and Bret! It was so nice to get to know you better and I wish you guys all the best!

In my marriage, it’s the silly moments that are the most fun. That’s how I know Shannon and Erik are headed for a great marriage, because they’re a little silly when they’re together.

We got together a couple of weeks ago at Jenkins Estate to do their engagement session, and it was so fun to hang with them. They are so genuine together.

I actually grew up down the street from Erik, which we discovered after I started talking to Shannon about photographing their wedding. I love little serendipitous moments like that.

The print above is made by Jen from MadeByGirl — she’s making these wedding prints now and I think they’re so cute! She can personalize them with your names, colors and everything.

I like the photos above the best from the whole shoot — I think they capture Shannon and Erik so well.

Thanks, Shannon and Erik, for being so much fun to hang out with and photograph. I can’t wait for your wedding in September!

I know it’s been a week or so since I shared Morgan & Brandon’s engagement session, but I am excited finally to show you the short video that came out of that session. It’s a little shaky because I’m way too focused on looking for locations than looking for the shot, but hopefully it communicates the great energy this couple has and brought to their session. I am just about to bust at the seams waiting for their wedding this July!

Morgan & Brandon from Sara Gray on Vimeo.

I really love engagement sessions, and can’t wait to share more in the coming months. It’s been such a fun springtime getting to know this year’s wedding couples and finding fun new locations to shoot in.