Serene & Ben – Go Bears!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Posted in Art, Engagement

Image #1 | Give me a "C"

There is something about being a University of California alumni that you just never get rid of, Once a Bear, Always a Bear. Both Serene and Ben are Cal alums, and Serene is now an optometrist and Ben is a high-tech consultant… AND he was a member of the Cal band. The fact that they are alums and plus the fact that he was in the band, well, I guess that’s how we were authorized to get onto Cal’s Memorial Field up near Berkeley’s Strawberry Canyon.

When they decided to have some engagement photos taken, nothing seemed to be better than to use Memorial Field where the Cal Bears hold their home football games, and where Ben performed as a member of the Cal Band. They both loved their time there in college and are avid fans of the Cal football team. Serene, Ben, my wife Annie (who came to assist me), and I are all Cal Alums, even so, it was a bit of a challenge to get into the stadium. Those of us here in the Bay Area all know about the “tree sitters” and there was another protest going on as well. To be honest, we were lucky to get in. When we got there, there was a soccer clinic being held, and the whole field was filled with athletes. Luckily, after shooting a few frames around the stands, the clinic wrapped, and we got access to the field.

One of the places that meant a lot to both of them was the big “C” and the Cal logo at mid-field. Now that the field was empty, we were able to get a few photos with it in the frame. Once we got out there, a few memebers of the Cal football team were practicing threw us a football to get a few “in-action” shots. Hmm…. perhaps Ben shoud have been a football player instead of being in the band?

After we got those important Cal themes in, we headed out to San Francisco for a few more photos. It was insanely windy though, but they still had a good time running around. Serene wasn’t too happy taking off her coat for most of the photos, but finally got it back and asked Ben for a lift (those planks aren’t fun with heels on!) After all of the running around we headed in to a local restaurant to grab a couple of drinks. Their wedding is almost here, so there will be more images in the near future of these two. Enjoy the photos!