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Our lives are busy. For many of us, there are few moments in a typical week where we stop, take a breath and soak in the moment… and be totally at peace.
The most satisfying part of being a photographer is enabling those moments to be savoured and enjoyed.
For regular readers of our blog you’ll be familiar with our Engagement Sessions. Over the past couple of months I’ve been enjoying referring to them as Connection Sessions instead. I feel it conveys what the time entails much better.
Jeff and Rachel are a two of a kind. Sweet, thoughtful, kind and always easy with a laugh. In planning their Connection Session we talked about their love of things whimsical, their love of good tea, their swing dancing and the Aussie bush.
Together we chose two locations meaningful to them – Kings Park to start out – with the rich aromas of gum leaves and the sound of leaves rustling…. and later on, King Street… But we’ll get to that 🙂
Jeff and Rachel spend much of their time reading together – whether it’s the fiction they’d prefer or long nights with their noses in heavy text books for uni. So while planning this wonderful picnic Rachel packed some vintage books for them to peruse.
As I always do, I invite the couple to experiment with their senses and see if they’re able to more fully be present in the current moment. The soft touch of the others hand, the beat their their heart. Simple acts like sharing a cup of tea each day are the little daily rituals that so many happily married old couples share, and I love that.
One of the most valuable things any couple can share is their laughter and joy… Something Rachel and Jeff have and abundance of. For this portion of the session we walked down to the Kings Park Botanical Gardens. It’s a really nice area for photography – with a diversity of plants and textures to use as backdrops.
Some of Rachel’s first memories as a young girl were of standing under a gum tree and loving the potent smell… So it was perfect that they were able to share some sweet moments under a ghost gum.
I love playing with scale in my photography and Kings Park offers some really cool opportunities for that…
After a wonderful time in Kings Park, Jeff & Rachel did a wardrobe change and we headed into their favourite part of town – King Street. As they wandered the streets they found some cool little locations…. Check out this cool little art gallery.
Don’t Jeff & Rachel look snazzy?? You really can’t beat King Street for the incredible architecture.
Rachel brought some balloons which made a really cool prop for some of the photos… Love the pop of colour.
Have you ever noticed that in movies they always wet the pavement? It’s one of those movie tricks that now that I’ve told you about, you’ll see it all the time. In these shots of them dancing below you can see how much dimensionality the reflections bring to the photos… Cool eh?
Jeff & Rachel popped into their favourite collectible book shop and enjoyed a few minutes chilling out together.
Before wrapping up their engagement shoot, they headed into their main hang out spot – King Street Cafe. The atmosphere is so European and the coffee is delicious 😉 I love seeing two people with so much love in their eyes. Don’t you love how they look at each other?
Thanks for an amazingly fun engagement session Rachel & Jeff!! I can’t wait for your wedding day!! It’s going to be AMAZING.
Dave.