There are sessions where you have to coax people out of their comfort zone, and sessions where the couple just says yes to everything and you spend the whole time running to keep up with them.

Carina and Chad were the second kind.

We met at Rodeo Beach at golden hour — the Marin Headlands at their best, when the light turns the dark sand warm and the cliffs glow. Carina and Chad had booked me specifically because they wanted a Northern California photographer who knew these locations, and Rodeo Beach delivered everything I promised them it would.

The Location

Rodeo Beach is one of my favorite spots in the entire Bay Area for engagement sessions, and golden hour is the reason why. The beach sits at the base of the Marin Headlands, tucked between dramatic cliffs and the Pacific. The sand is dark — almost black in places — which creates a contrast you don’t get anywhere else. When the light hits it right, the whole scene looks almost cinematic.

It’s also far enough off the beaten path that you won’t be dodging tourists in every frame.

Carina + Chad

These two were exactly the kind of clients who make this job great. Sweet, relaxed, and completely game for anything — running down the beach, scrambling up the cliffs, spinning around in the surf. No hesitation, no “wait, are we doing this right?” — just two people genuinely happy to be there together.

Chad works in finance, which means he spends a lot of time being serious. You’d never know it from these photos.

They got married a few months later in San Diego, and I have no doubt their wedding day had the same energy as this session — warm, fun, and completely them.

Considering Rodeo Beach for Your Engagement Session?

If you want dramatic coastal landscapes without the crowds of Baker Beach or the drive to Half Moon Bay, Rodeo Beach is your answer. I shoot here regularly and it never gets old. The cliffs, the light, the dark sand — it’s one of the most visually striking locations in the Bay Area, and it’s barely twenty minutes from San Francisco.

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Rose Freedman Photography is a Bay Area engagement and wedding photographer serving couples throughout Marin, San Francisco, Napa Valley, and beyond. Inquire here.