Mattie & Dustin
In life, there are some people we are just destined to meet.
I met Mattie and Dustin at the Oceanside Sunset Market one night while walking around taking pictures. They had with them their German Shepherd and Border Collie and they were both wearing cute little bandanas--so naturally, I just HAD to take their picture! A quick snap or two, and we parted ways. But just about 20 minutes later, we ran into them again, and they asked for my Instagram username so they could see the picture when I posted it. So we exchanged usernames and chatted a little bit about ourselves. Before leaving again, I had a thought and spontaneously asked them if they wanted to do a couples session in a few days. They were surprised, but excited! Of course, they said, we’d love to!
Fast forward to that Sunday, I was waiting with my friend Tracy for Mattie and Dustin to arrive at the ranch house. Tracy was a friend that I had met during one of my previous trips to Cali. She’s also into photography, and said she would love to get some more practice with photographing couples. We were both just a little early, so we roamed around the area to discuss where we’d like to take pictures. After we made our way back front, Mattie and Dustin were pulling into the dirt lot. Once they were parked, they opened the hatch to let their dogs Kimber (German Shepard) and Shiner (Border Collie) out and stretch. They were both so excited about this new environment they were in! Luckily Dustin brought along their favorite ball to get their attention, ha ha!
We walked all around the ranch and took our time so we could get to know one another and have fun! Mattie and Dustin were both so open to any ideas we had! And the dogs took great pictures, too--they were like little models! I seriously could not get over how good they were. Every single time they posed I almost started crying because they were just so precious and adorable!!!
We had just about made our way all the way around the ranch when all of the sudden there were tons of people there! It turns out, I’m not the only one who likes to use this ranch as a photography location! One woman brought along TWO HORSES for her family portraits!! #PhotographyGoals. Luckily for us, we were just about to leave for the beach anyways.
I’m really glad we went to the beach on base, because it wasn’t as packed as the other beaches would’ve been (because it was Memorial Day weekend). The lighting was perfect when we got there! I was head-over heels for the setting! After we took some shots on the beach and shore, we went to the other side of the beach. We had found this pier made of rocks, and I immediately knew the shot I wanted--nay--NEEDED to take!! I told them to walk out a little ways down the rocks while I ran as quickly as I could into the water and crouched as low as I could without getting completely soaked. The sun was just beginning to go down and cast these beautiful shades of gold and blue. A few snaps later, and I was ecstatic about the images I had just gotten!
Mattie, Dustin, and their dogs were just so much fun to meet and work with! And they had just as much fun as I did. I think I can confidently that I had successfully just made some new friends in this new place. I can’t help but recall that first encounter at the market, and just believe that there are some people in this life that we are just destined to meet.
