Santana Row Engagement Shoot

This San Jose Santana Row engagement shoot was one of the more intriguing and interesting shoots for me because we were shooting in a shopping area not commonly used for photography! To me, the location isn’t that important since your connection, relationship, and having fun is what I care about! The location certainly helps add some personality to the images, so I was excited to see so many different backdrops and color for these photos!

Being a San Francisco native, most of the locations I recommend in the Best Engagement Shoot Locations are around there, so it was great to add a new location in the South Bay with this neighborhood. For anyone who lives around San Jose, you have inevitably walked around Santana Row. The shops, food, and shops(!) all cater to more or less any and everyone. We planned our shoot for a weekday to avoid the massive crowds that can gather in this popular shopping district, which was a great idea to avoid having to wait too long for people to walk by. With any urban engagement shoot, I like to walk around and simply see what I see! There is no real planning, so the hunt for light, composition, and background is a bit of a gamble. Fortunately, havving these two lovebirds with me made it that much more fun and exciting chasing the above.

As you will see, there were opportunites for both abstract geometric walls (thanks random loading dock) as well as colorful walls that I’m sure can be found on any Santana Row hashtag. Colorful walls and natural laughs are always a great combination. And every once in a while I will go for the more abstract stoic look, as you will see on the first photo of this Santana Row engagement shoot 🙂