Lets talk engagement shoots

So you’ve decided that you want an engagement shoot, and now you need to pick a location. What comes to mind? Is it the Arboretum?

While there’s definitely nothing wrong with the Arboretum (it’s a super gorgeous park!) I always encourage my couples to think outside the box with their engagement shoot locations. While it’s easy to just hit up a default park and stand under some pretty trees, I think it’s important for your engagement photos to tell the story of who you are and what’s important to you, as a couple.

If you’re worried about feeling awkward during your engagement shoot, pick an activity. Don’t make it about the shoot, make it about you! Here are a few location ideas that aren’t your average walk in the park (see what I did there?):

Your Home

YOUR HOME! It’s where you’re living at this particular point in your life. You will look back so fondly on your little apartment or first home together, it’s an absolutely killer choice for your engagement photos.

“But Anita, our home sucks”, you say. You’re dreaming of living in a beautiful century home with a lavish yard, a location that would be perfect for photos…but right now, you live in a tiny apartment over a pho restaurant. Let’s embrace that! Let’s take a few photos in whatever corner of your apartment works, then walk around your neighborhood looking for cool spots to shoot. Then let’s grab some of that pho, or stop by your favourite coffee shop or bar and grab a drink.

Or maybe your home doesn’t suck and is beautiful, in which case we should for SURE be taking photos there! Making pancakes and having a romantic breakfast in bed? Yes please!

We can still find a little park and grab some save-the-date worthy smiling under a tree photos (so your save the date photo doesn’t have to be a photo of you shoveling Vietnamese soup in your mouth). Just imagine, though, being able to show your children photos your first apartment together. Being able to show them where you lived and what you did at the time you got married (wouldn’t you just LOVE to have these photos of your own parents?!). It will melt your heart.

Date Night

Let’s up the ante on this photo shoot and make it a date, too!

How about lunch at the Corner Peach? What about hitting up the Merry Dairy for some ice cream, or attending a local beer fest? Maybe just grab a bottle of wine, your bikes, and find a cozy place along the river to snuggle up and watch the sun set? Let’s go to the beach, or take a dip at your family cottage!

It doesn’t matter what date night is to you – it will make the photos way more fun, and way more romantic.

Favourite Activity

What’s your thing? Rock climbing? Bug collecting? Hiking? Cross fit? Do you take a wood working or pottery class? Do you train dogs together, collect records or maybe you brew your own beer?

Whatever your activity is, let’s make it a part of your photos! I usually recommend that your activity just be a part of your engagement photos (for instance the first or last half of the shoot) and then let’s go take a walk and find some neat spots to take some more traditional photos, too.

A Special Location

Is there a specific location around town that’s special to you and your relationship? Maybe where you met, had your first date, or proposed? If there’s a spot that means something to you, let’s incorporate it into your shoot!

“BUT ANITA, I love taking romantic walks at the Arboretum and gazing from bridges with my partner while holding hands”, you say. Perfect! Let’s do that! There’s definitely nothing wrong with the classic “let’s meet at a park and take posed photos that tell the tale of our undying love”. If that’s your engagement shoot truth, I’m all in!

There’s no wrong way to do an engagement shoot, but from the perspective of a photographer I absolutely love it when my clients want to do their own thing. It makes the shoot a lot more relaxed, creates more interesting photos, and gives you a gallery of images that will be really, truly special. Really, truly you.

Here’s a full list of Anita Peeples endorsed engagement shoot ideas and themes to get your mind going:

Apple picking or visiting a pumpkin patch
Cocktails at the Corner Peach
Cutting your own Christmas Tree
Beau’s Oktoberfest
Visit to Britannia Beach with burgers from the Baha Grill
A water gun fight
Backyard BBQ
Di Rienzo sandwiches
Swim at an outdoor community pool
The dog park
Bicycle built for two
Favourite pub or coffee shop
Swim date and picnic at the Carbide Ruins
Dominion City patio
Grabbing some barbacoa from Yakko Takko and eating it in the park
A trip to the garden centre
Eating cotton candy and playing games at the Capital Fair
A trip to the farmers’ market
Cooking your favourite meal at home

Here’s a full list of Anita Peeples endorsed classic engagement shoot location ideas:

Aylmer Beach (a beautiful pebble beach with fallen trees and the most gorgeous sunsets!)
Parc Mousette (walkable rocky shallow water, a beach and the best sunset in town)
Remic Rapids (beautiful sunset among the inuksuks)
My special secret location in Gatineau Park that is perfect in every way
Somerset/Chinatown (very cool murals in this area)
The Market, Wellington West, The Glebe, Centretown (for a classier urban vibe)
The area along the water at Brewer Park
Britannia Beach (a very fun beach scene, and a rocky area that shoots out into the river)
Westboro Beach
The Tropical Greenhouse at the Experimental Farm (the greenhouse itself is only open during the day, but is sooooo cool)