Whenever we do an engagement shoot we are looking to achieve several things. Firstly we want to get to know our future wedding couples a little better. We want to find out what they like, don’t like and generally what “makes them tick.”
Secondly we want to get them used to being photographed and realise how painless in the right hands that actually is! As a natural byproduct of this they will get some great photos of themselves together, without having to hand their smart phone to a stranger to get that shot.
Lastly we like to have a bit of fun as the title of this post says. A little bit of humour and light heartedness goes a long way to capturing relaxed and spontaneous images.
With Ashley and Paul I photographed this engagement session on my own at Alexandra Palace. I know the area very well, it is where I met Joanna, and also where I had a house just behind the iconic building itself on Dukes Avenue.
It was quite a bright and windy day so I looked for areas of open shade and some kind of wind shielding to help with the look of the photos. All the time we were watched by a gaggle of local and curious squirrels, not to mention the prowling geese around the boating lake!
Needless to say we all got on very well and really enjoyed the session together. We took in the lake, trees, playground architecture, graffiti and of course elements of Alexandra Palace itself.
You can read about another recent session I did in Muswell Hill here: Engagement Shoot at London’s Alexandra Palace in Muswell Hill
After the engagement shoot we were all feeling peckish so we went for a light lunch together by the boating lake. I don’t always go for coffee or food after a pre wedding session, but it just felt right after the fun we had all had together.
A couple of weeks later and Joanna and I travelled to Hampton for Ashley and Paul’s fantastic wedding day which we wrote recently about here on the blog: Hampton Court House Wedding Photographers
As a footnote I love to receive emails like the one Ashley and Paul sent to us afterwards which reads as follows:
“Hi David, Lovely to see you today. Both Paul and I left on a high, and feeling that we DEFINITELY have the right photographer for the day :)”
By David Green