I met Kimber and Jesse on a beautiful fall morning for their engagement photos. We explored the Mono Cliffs, a gorgeous hiking trail in Mono, Ontario, with hills, caves, lakes and more. Its a huge hike, you could stay there all day! One tip - go early, it gets really busy with all the people driving up from the city!
If you live in the city, you may be surprised how unique and creative of an engagement shoot you can have, simply by walking around your neighbourhood :)
I love meeting couples at their home and just walking. The city has so many colours and textures and funky alleys and buildings to shoot near. It is always a blast! And I get to know the couple a little more as they allow me to enter their daily life space.
So fun! Check out this recent engagement session in Liberty Village area of Toronto
Engagement sessions on the beach are always wonderful for light, and the best time to do them is either early morning as the sun is rising, or later in the evening just before "golden hour". Golden hour is a term that refers to the hour before sunset, when the sun is low and the shadows scarce, which creates beautiful dream light for portrait photography.
My favourite thing about engagement sessions is getting to hang out with, and get to know the couple better before the big day! I always ask a few probing questions before we plan a location such as "where did you meet, what does your perfect day look like, where would you go, what music would you listen to?" This gives me a peak into their lives, but also my creative brain will start coming up with all these fun ideas of things to do for their session may be a little bit different than most of the "let's go to the park and smile" engagement sessions out there!
It was so fun getting to know Lara and Martin and see their favourite hang outs in Toronto such as the subway station, their fave pub, and the neighbourhood around their city condo - these type of engagement sessions are the best way to ensure we get to know each other before your wedding day! And so fun, you will be more relaxed than you would be if we posed at a random park or place you have no attachment to.
I met Jane and Danny in Toronto near their condo for some engagement photos. We started out at Music Park, which is where Danny proposed to Jane! Then we took a walk, the sun went down and it got really cold but it was just more reason for them to snuggle up! Off to skating at one of Toronto's outdoor rinks - seems like a typical Canadian thing to do for photos right?! Check out these two lovebirds here!
Welcome to the magical forest of the Kortright Centre in Kleinburg Ontario. This is where I met LIndsay and Kyle and Moose for their early morning engagement session. We were the only ones there which was peaceful and awesome. Hey couples - one benefit of getting up early for a sunrise or early morning session is that you are usually the only people there and its quiet and fun and you can get romantic without an audience :)
We hung out one Sunday afternoon at Kensington Market in Toronto and just wandered the colourful streets, stopping to play a little hopscotch, taste-test some donuts for the wedding, and have some tea. These two love tea, donuts, games and books so it was the perfect day in Toronto.
You have decided to do engagement photos! Yay! Now what?
Personally I like to think of an engagement session as a little date. If you were planning a romantic date night, would you go to a random park and cuddle under random trees? Probably not. Choose a place that is meaningful to the two of you. If that park was where you got engaged or first met, sure let’s go there! Or maybe you love going to local patios and enjoying a cold beer – then go there! Take the dog for a walk, browse your favourite book store together, or better yet, just stay home and cuddle on the couch!
So many couples ask me WHY should we do an engagement session? What's the point? Especially if you are a private couple who won't be sharing photos of yourselves all over social media. Well, let me tell you some reasons why I love when couples choose to do an engagement session and maybe one of them will relate to you!
