My birthday was picture perfect,

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The celebrations started very gently because Antonella was away this weekend attending a course. To keep things moving, I'd arranged to meet up with my good friend Francis to have coffee and cakes in the Castro around lunch time. Even though there had recently been lots of rain and wintry weather, Saturday was beautiful! (That right there was a great gift). Teas, coffees, and cakes were pleasantly consumed accompanied with delightful conversations.

After quite some time, we decided to walk off a little of our excess and set off to wander the Castro. I had my camera with me and every once in a while, we'd stop and I would grab a picture of something that had caught my attention.
My phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but I felt I should take the call.

It was a young lady's voice and it bore a little trepidation as she spoke. I'm paraphrasing now, but she was saying,
"We're looking for a photographer, I'm here in San Francisco today with my boyfriend but he has just become my fiancé. He just proposed a short time ago, and we're traveling back to Oregon tonight but wondered if there was any chance of having pictures done in San Francisco before we leave? "
Looking at my watch the time showed 10 minutes after 4 pm.

"Where are you now?" I asked.
"We're staying over by Fisherman's Wharf. It would mean so much to us to have photos of us in San Francisco".

I knew a place where we could go in the city to make use of the available light that was fading rapidly and also capture some San Francisco elements. The location would also allow for some interesting shots till just after the sun had gone down. She liked the sound of it and I told her where I would meet them.

I had walked to the Castro and would need to get home and grab a couple of battery packs and speedlites before crossing the city to the rendezvous spot. So while explaining to Francis that I was going to rush off and do this shoot, he said,
"Why don't I drop you back at your place? I brought my car and it's nearby."
I accepted and we set off. As we drove back to the apartment, Francis suggested that he could drive me to the meeting spot. That way I wouldn't have to worry about parking and we'd have more time chatting together. Perfect!

They were a lovely couple and I'm so glad I accepted the shoot. They were fun and made me laugh and added a whole additional level of fun and enjoyment to my birthday! We captured some lovely shots and previewed the pictures briefly in their car before they left.

Thank you Francis, you're a saint!!

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