Classic Car Engagement Photoshoot on the palm tree lined streets of Beverly Hills

Derek Hough & Hayley Hough - Beverly Hills, California 3/26/23

Derek & Hayley are about as classy a couple as they come, so when we were brainstorming ideas for their engagement shoot, it only seemed right that the shoot would represent that class. We floated a few different ideas back and forth via a mood board, and one of the ideas that overlapped was a vintage convertible car. When Hayley found a vintage 1957 Porsche Speedster through a vintage car service called Hollywood Classic Cars, we immediately knew that it was the one. Next up was choosing a location that would set the scene to properly express our vision. We wanted to capture the essence of Southern California and what makes it so classic for top down driving in style. When asking the questions; “what embodies class?”, and “what screams classic California?”, a couple different locations came to mind, but the clearest answer was the world renowned palm tree lined streets of Beverly Hills. Nothing says LA like palm trees, and there’s no where quite as classy as Beverly Hills. Now that we had the car locked in and the scene set, it was time to prepare for the photoshoot. Typically before a shoot, counter to what a lot of people might believe, I actually don’t do a ton of planning as far as specific shots are concerned. My approach is more to have a general vision of the kind of vibe, energy, or emotion that we want to portray, have a few references, and then enter a creative flow state during the actual shoot, experimenting and adjusting based off of what I’m seeing in the environment in real time. I have found that there are always going to be unforeseen elements, and as my Dad always says; “why plan when you can react?”. So with the vision in mind, and a few references in hand, it was time to create the magic. We arrived under the palm trees during my favorite time of the day: 3-4 hours before sunset (depending on the location and season). Beautiful clear skies allowed the sun to beam brightly through the trees and architectural masterpieces, creating a dreamy glow. Derek & Hayley were looking fancier than the classic Porsche in their fine styled attire. The energy was high right from the get go. You could just feel that the scene was set for something special to be created. I had already come previously to scout and pick the specific street, and now that we were here I did a quick survey of the light and the surroundings, decided where to position the Porsche, and we got right to work. Derek and Hayley are a pleasure to work with, as they always bring 11/10 energy to anything they do, and they are always excited about doing whatever it takes to get an amazing shot. We set up a few cinematic scenes that made sense given the car and the environment, and then while they acted out the scenes, I did my thing to capture it in cinematic fashion. Anytime you can get a good synergy going where the couple is dialed in to the “scene”, it really allows you to focus on all the elements of your craft, and that’s what we had going. In total we only shot for about an hour, but that was all we needed to bring our vision to fruition.