An engagement Session, or Document Love session as I refer to it is simply a portrait session for couples. You don’t have to be engaged to have a photo session where your story is told through images. You just need to be in love. It could also happen after you’ve already been married: it could be your honeymoon, and it could be an anniversary session. Life is precious, don’t wait for the “perfect” moment to have your story recorded.
I approach Document Love sessions the same way I do weddings: with a mostly “documentary” approach coupled with relaxed & natural portraits. The goal is to document you, your love for each other and your life together.
They say that “birds of a feather flock together”. Well, I think proverbs really do express a truth that is based on common sense or real experience. The first thing that I learned about Amy and Henry was that they love to travel.
Well, you had me at “travel”. When we met, we just talked about their travels. I can honestly say that is one topic that I’ll never get tired of talking about. It was also very apparent to me how in love they are with each other. This made it very easy to capture their connection during this Document Love/engagement session.
Amy & Henry, I can’t wait to be a part of your wedding day in June!
A couple of days before Alaina & Denis’ gorgeous wedding in Negril, we met in the morning and took some engagement/pre-wedding photos for them in and around Negril. We drove around in the early morning and checked out a few cliff-side locations for the session. It was a hot, but gorgeous, morning with a lovely couple!
If you’ve been to my site before, you know about my love of Iceland. So when Gita contacted me about photographing an anniversary portrait session in Iceland for her and Matt, I almost fell off my chair. When we met, we just chatted away about travel. I learned that we share the same love for travelling, new experiences and the open road. I also learned that they’d be celebrating 14 years of marriage at the beginning of September. So the trip to Iceland was pretty special. September couldn’t come soon enough for all of us.
I often get asked what I think is the most important thing to consider when working with a photographer. And at meetings, I always get asked questions like what kind of camera I use, whether I use Nikon or Canon, etc etc. While those questions are legitimate questions, I think the most important thing is whether you feel a connection to your photographer and their work. Working with a photographer is like making friends, if you have a connection with them, it’ll be a much more rewarding working relationship. Because photography isn’t just a product, and what your photographer tries to capture isn’t just what the eyes can see.
Thank you Gita & Matt, for bringing me to Iceland to document this milestone in your life and for trusting me to do it.
Ever wanted to be in two places at once? You can at the Bridge Between Two Continents. :)
“Why does a chicken coup always have two doors?” said James as he looked over at Brittany.
“Because otherwise it’d be a sedan!” Brittany answered before James could finish his joke. I laughed behind my camera as they chuckled.
Distinct sense of humour and underlying mischievousness were a few things that drew James to Brittany when they first met.
For their Document Love session, we decided on a cottage engagement session since they have spent a lot of time there throughout their relationship. It is somewhere they love to relax, go for a swim and spend time with loved ones. Brittany’s parents were also in the process of selling the property so the photos would definitely be special mementos.
“To me love is a full house, cooking, slowing dancing in the kitchen”.
There is a quiet yet spirited quality to their connection. Here are some of my favourite photos from their session.
I spent an afternoon with Sarah and Dave for their Document Love session on a sunny afternoon in June. We started the session in their lovely home in downtown Toronto, then we wandered over to their favourite coffee spot, Rooster Coffee, and then spent a couple of hours exploring the Toronto Islands. It was the perfect session for a pair of coffee aficionados who love to stroll & explore the city they love.
They are both hilarious and made each other laugh constantly. It was easy to tell that they have a great connection and have grown to know each other so well.
Here are some of my favourites from our relaxed session and I’m looking forward to being a part of their wedding day in a few weeks!
The story of Jin & Frank is straight out of a novel. But more on that later (I will divulge when I blog their wedding).
We picked Niagara-on-the-Lake for their Document Love session because they had visited a couple of years ago and loved the area. And also we can incorporate some of the things they love to do together into the session: such as exploring places and strolling neighbourhoods together. We also had a picnic at the end of the session. I know picnics may seem a little overdone and a bit contrived for engagement/Document Love sessions, but it was the perfect way to incorporate their love of food into the session. I follow Jin on instagram and she is quite the cook! Her food photos always make me hungry.
It was a wet and rainy day, but we persevered and worked with the weather and conditions. Including quite a few mosquito bites walking through a trail looking for a picnic spot. But as Frank said, as long as we have stories to tell after an experience, then it’s worth it.
It was a fun filled day of strolling and exploring with them, and I can’t wait for their wedding next week!
The Alchemist is the book that connected us. It is their favourite book.
Jin told me when Frank found out it was my favourite book as well, he was ready to hire me.
