For me, a big part of every engagement session is getting to know the couple and exploring an area with them. We did lots of both of those things during Lucinda & Matt’s Berkeley engagement session, which actually started at Ardenwood Historic Farm, where they’ll be getting married soon.

Ardenwood, a park in Fremont that is also a working farm dating back to the 1850s, is going to be a fantastic venue for their wedding. We shot engagement photos in locations around the park and made mental notes about locations to return to during the wedding. We checked out the gorgeous historic farmhouse on the property. We walked through the ceremony and reception areas and made plans for their wedding day.

Then, after a quick stop at Chipotle to fill our bellies, we headed to Berkeley for the rest of the engagement session. The ride provided quality time for us to get to know each other, and also time for us to discover that we were all in need of a little coffee to wake us up from our burrito bowls! So, naturally, our first photo location in Berkeley was a coffee shop.

From there were headed to the Berkeley City Club, a historic hotel designed by Julia Morgan, the architect behind the Hearst Castle. Lucinda and Matt had been there before and loved the place. After that, as night descended on us, we walked through the streets of Berkeley, looking for locations, and found a couple of my favorite spots of the whole day.

See those photos and my other favorites in the gallery below.