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January 24, 2022

El Matador Beach Engagement Session | Tori and Daniel

Photographing your best friends engagement session – could it get any better? The answer is actually yes because we decided to do their beach engagement session in Malibu at El Matador Beach! 

Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | destination photos, beach engagement session, couples photos, couples poses, portraits on the beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com

Why the beach? 

Daniel and Tori are the biggest beach people. Not only have the chosen Cabo for their destination wedding this year, but Tori’s family spends about a month of their summer in South Padre each year! It was a no brainer to capture them in the place they love spending time together the most.

Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | destination photos, beach engagement session, couples photos, couples poses, portraits on the beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | destination photos, beach engagement session, couples photos, couples poses, portraits on the beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | destination photos, beach engagement session, couples photos, couples poses, portraits on the beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | destination photos, beach engagement session, couples photos, couples poses, portraits on the beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com

Our Days Together at UT

Tori and I met in college while attending The University of Texas at Austin when we both decided to join the group Texas Sweethearts. It’s one of the many spirit groups at UT, but I’m so glad I joined with all of the friends it brought me! We were roommates during my junior and senior year and soon after moving in together she told me that there was a Texas Wrangler (the equivalent to our group but for guys) that had caught her eye. After Tori and Daniel made it official on the New Years Eve of my junior year, he basically became our third roommate and we all got very close. It has been such a sweet treat to watch their relationship grow from the beginning!

Happy Couple During Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | couples poses, couple smiling at each other, beach photos, casual beach photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, outfit ideas for beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Happy Couple During Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | couples poses, couple smiling at each other, beach photos, casual beach photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, outfit ideas for beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Happy Couple During Malibu Beach Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | couples poses, couple smiling at each other, beach photos, casual beach photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, outfit ideas for beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com

Getting to the Session at El Matador Beach

For our stay, we chose Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica. It was a bit of a drive to get to the beach for the session, but so worth it because it was surrounded by amazing restaurants! We even felt the drive was worth because it was so pretty and we find a fun bar of the Pacific Coast Highway. Gladstones was the perfect place for a few quick tequila shots to help calm their nerves and then we jammed to their favorite music – Maluma, Bazzi – until we made it to the beach. 

Couples Portraits on El Matador Beach in Malibu, California | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Couples Portraits on El Matador Beach in Malibu, California | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Couples Portraits on El Matador Beach in Malibu, California | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Couples Portraits on El Matador Beach in Malibu, California | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos | via kellyoconnorphotography.com

Tips for Your Beach Engagement Session

While it brought us lots of laughs, if you are planning for a beach session, make sure to pack a towel! At the end of the session, we realized that we forgot a towel to wipe our sand soaked feet. So with lots of laughs, we hiked back up to the parking lot barefoot.

Couple Running on El Matador Beach | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | Malibu, California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos, grainy photos, photos of couple on beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Couple Running on El Matador Beach | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | Malibu, California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos, grainy photos, photos of couple on beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Couple Running on El Matador Beach | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | Malibu, California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos, grainy photos, photos of couple on beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Couple Running on El Matador Beach | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | Malibu, California Engagement Session | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos, grainy photos, photos of couple on beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Malibu, California Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos, photos of couple on beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
Malibu, California Engagement Session | Kelly O'Connor Photography | Austin Based Wedding Photographer | El Matador Beach | couples photos, bride to be, engagement photos, outfit ideas for engagement photos, destination photo session, beach photos, photos of couple on beach | via kellyoconnorphotography.com
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