Sutro Baths | San Francisco Engagement

The Sutro Baths, located in the Lands End area of San Francisco, were opened in 1896 by Adolph Sutro, a wealthy and eccentric business man and mayor who wanted to build a healthy and recreational facility for the people of San Francisco. With the Sutro Baths, he created a public bathhouse that had 7 saltwater pools of different temperatures that filled up with water from the Pacific Ocean. Not only was it a bathhouse, but it also had a museum and other forms of entertainment. It even had its own railroad that took visitors right up to it and families would make a whole day out of visiting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t cost efficient long term and was eventually turned into a skating rink and then later purchased to build high rise apartments. Demolition was started and then a mysterious fire destroyed what was left of the structure in 1966. The apartments were never built and the land was purchased by the National Park Service in 1980. Today you can see the beautiful mess of what was once a spectacular landmark.

I started coming to this spot many years ago before I moved to San Francisco and continued to visit it once I lived there. After Josh and I started dating I took him here often and we even got our own engagement photos taken here 6 years ago. I had been wanting to photograph a session here once I started working as a photographer and I was finally able to make it happen. We went early in the morning and I was expecting fog but was blessed with a beautiful sunrise and a quiet and calm morning. I shot this half digital and half film with more of an emphasis on film. I’m still learning the ins and outs of film but I’m really happy with how these images came out. The incredible flowers were made by Anastasia Andematten.