Ontario Beach Engagement : Alphonse + Samantha

Everyone has a story. There is a lot more to Alphonse and Samantha, but today we’re going to talk about their love story. It’s a story told in pictures, of their relationship and preparation before their wedding, and it takes place at Ontario Beach Park. It’s the location that they’ve often visited, that is close to home, and where they got engaged. It’s funny how locations can change from ordinary to notable in an matter of minutes when they are the site of milestones in your life. Choosing to do the session at the park meant transforming it from the way Alphonse and Samantha saw it before they were engaged and capturing it in a way that they want to look back on and remember.

Now, we spent some time before the session getting ice cream and talking, but I’m not sure that did much to loosen these two up. In fact, my clue that they were going to need more directing in front of the camera was when Samantha commented about Megan + Tommy’s esession, and how I wrote about them being camera shy people. She wanted to know how they did, I think because she saw her + Alphonse in their shoes. Now, despite their uncertainty they didn’t have a bad session… but they thought they did! After I sent them a preview Samantha wrote back and was amazed that they had in fact taken good pictures. This is not uncommon. Many people have only seen pictures of themselves with point and shoots, bad lighting, deer in the headlights flash… and that doesn’t help. I know they do, but anyone I take pictures of has to trust me. Know that I’m going to make you look good, help you out, and of course throw out any of the bad ones. So, I present to you the best of the session:

My favorite photos were the last ones I took. The light was amazing, these pictures were 98% in camera which means I didn’t add in that warmth, that’s what happens when you shoot at sunset!

I would say it was a success, wouldn’t you? It was fun to meet up with you Alphonse+Samantha, I hope you enjoy your images and I can’t wait for your wedding – you guys will be pros with the pictures!