A sunset engagement photography shoot for Liz + Nathan at the Alameda Naval Base in Alameda, California
When Liz and Nathan suggested the (mostly) abandoned naval base in Alameda as their location for an engagement shoot, I was ridiculously intrigued. From what little I knew, this I could decipher:
1) I would be guaranteed peeling paint in my backgrounds. I’m not too proud a photographer to get all giddy over naturally textured backdrops, and the word ‘abandoned’ had me envisioning facades just crying out to be featured in one of my shoots.
2) The place would be overflowing with military references. Vintage barracks, hulking black ships, old runways, long-abandoned airplane hangars…I suspected it would be like wandering onto a movie set that had been left to crumble, and that it would be mine to explore.
3) I’d be afforded top-notch views across the water of the San Francisco skyline. Yes, please, sign me up.
When I took a morning to scout the location out (it’s now called Alameda Point) I was stunned that I could just drive on-site and ramble around as much as I liked. Some of the old warehouses have been turned into businesses, and the USS Hornet, (CV-12…because that will mean something to someone) remains permanently docked on the waterfront as a museum. Aside from all that, I had the base to myself!
Yesterday I went back with Liz and Nathan at sunset and we returned to some of my favourite spots on the base for an engagement photo shoot. The lighting was a DREAM and cast such a perfect golden hue upon everything that I couldn’t bear to turn these particular shots into Black & White. Of course, I’ll feature B&W images within Liz and Nathan’s final collection, but for the sake of this blog post, I just had to share these in colour!
I really should also mention the fact that the naval base and the golden light are just props in a sense…we could have done this shoot anywhere in any kind of lighting. The real stars of this shoot were Liz and Nathan who offered up this great location and the opportunity to photograph them together. And I’d also like to give props to Liz for that dress. The moment I saw her in it I couldn’t believe how perfectly it would suit the location both in style and in colour. Wouldn’t you agree?
All right folks, that’s it from me! This has been a whirlwind 24 hours; this time yesterday we hadn’t yet begun our shoot and now here it is (in part) for you to view. The magic of digital + the internet hey? Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!! 3 whole days off….yippeee!!!!!!