What immediately struck us about Anna and David was their warm, laid back demeanor and smooth sense of humor. If you took The Daily Show/Colbert Report/Last Week Tonight in completely adorable couple form, but toned back only the incisive/harsh sarcasm to a pleasant 15%, you’d have these guys. Pop culture, the classics, issues of social and environmental awareness are all fair game with Anna and David, and they seemed to always have an interesting take on the subject at hand.

That said, the other way we’d describe what it was like to be around them was that you somehow had the sense that they had a rad apartment. It makes no sense, but it’s true. You can’t have people this cool and not have sweet dwellings; that would be tantamount to having a dirty gin martini without the olive juice. It would be a contradiction of terms. With this feeling about them in mind, when the subject of their engagement session came up, we suggested that it might cool to do a bit of our shoot in their apartment…and they agreed! Guess what, we showed up, and we weren’t wrong. Personality, quirkiness, and a keen orderliness abound in that pad!

When we showed up for their session, not only did it feel like your favorite interior decorating periodical, we got to meet their cat owners, Willie (not pictured) and Dijon (pictured with a smushed countenance). After taking in their space for a bit, we started their shoot trying for a straight ahead family shot; two humans, two cats. You’ll see that we only could manage two humans and a cat, as Willie just wasn’t having it. After this brief set back we made use of their great apartment; the decor gave a sense of who they are (cool as heck!), and more importantly for us, interesting spots of light. Shooting a bit in the apartment was a total win!

Anna and David let us know that Golden Gate Fields was a special place to them and their friends, so we headed there to catch some exteriors and make use of the clear day and great light by the water. A bonus was that Anna’s retro-inspired, waist skirt-based outfit was a great complement to the throwback sensibilities of the race track. To put it in cheesy terms, it was a nice juxtaposition of a new love against some old school charm (end cheese).

On our way to Berkeley, they treated us to some [very literally] sweet donuts at a favorite donut shop in Berkeley en route to exploring downtown. After that we shot just off University Avenue, and no matter where we put them or asked them to do, they looked absolutely fantastic. We spotted red neon in the windows of a swimsuit shop, and figured it was a appropriate quirk for them, and made good use of it. These guys can also bring the drama, we found.

Throughout the shoot, we couldn’t ask for more; they were so loving and fun with each other, and their personalities individually came across strongly in their photos. It really was hard to take a bad frame, just a dream. If this session was anything to go by, it’ll be more of the casually cool fun come their wedding day. Definitely check back in for that!