So this girl and guy in Minnesota meet in 9th grade, and start going out before junior prom in 11th grade.

Boom! Flash forward to Los Angeles, 2010. Said girl and boy are still going strong. He’s a director of photography for many a film set, she’s a director of patient services for a pancreatic cancer organization. They have a little dog, Junebug, who is skittish around photographers.

And now, these high school sweethearts shall be tyin’ the knot in Minnesota in April … and Kelli and I will be there! I’m bringing my closet of winter coats.

But first things first: we photographed their engagement story session in a little corner of the Silverlake area in Los Angeles. They were game for a couple quirky areas, so we went to Home Restaurant, some stairs to nowhere, a graffitied retaining wall, and a garden of concrete blocks on a hillside. I still have not figured out how those blocks got there … if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

On to some images:

Immediately after the photo above, a disturbing-but-familiar aroma informed me I’d just stepped in a pile of you-know-what of unknown species’ origin.  What was done was done, and all Anitra + Justin could do was laugh uncontrollably.

Anitra’s email later that day: “PS Did your shoes end up in a dumpster? ;)”