Fiona & Jackson

I always long for a Zen-like minimalistic engagement shoot but very seldomly am I able to line up the right plan, right lighting and right weather.  Along came a super windy Sunday.  Fiona, Jack and I arrived at a well-known beach, the Scarborough Bluffs.  It has a huge cliff wall next to a beach with some areas of greenery.  I’ve never been particularly fond of the Bluffs because in my mind, it is just an artificial park with a flat patch of sand.  Well, this strong wind certainly knocked some sense into me.  On our way to the beach, we saw wave after wave crashing on the rocks.  It reminded me of those beaches along the Pacific Ocean during a storm. Who knew I could be excited by the Bluffs!  Well, Fiona and Jack weren’t quite as thrilled.  The first challenge we faced was walking through a flooded path.  Without an ounce of hesitation, I jumped right on with my shoes on.  Fiona and Jack, while touched by my bravery, were also realistic about the ability of nice footwear surviving extremely wet conditions, so they popped off their shoes.  After literally getting their feet wet, the now adventurous couple launched right into the shoot, running across the shore line, piggy-backing… The variety of shots we were able to get left me speechless.

Just a side story, we actually saw a bunch of fireman rescuing some rock climbers.  It was on the news!  As a result, the cliff was sealed off so we went on to find another adventurous but slightly less dangerous spot.

We settled for the beach next to the Bluffs.  Not even needing to get out of the car, we saw sand violently being blown from the beach on to the parking lot.  So much for less dangerous! Well, fearless photographers fear nothing and that courage extends their clients as well. We soldiered on.  Fiona kept saying she could not even open her eyes. A layer of blowing sand really gave the photos a “zen” (sand?) feel.  It softened the lighting and made the scene more dreamy.  Again, the very hard working couple did their magic, running around the beach for a whole 40 mins.  Thank you so much, Fiona and Jack, for your trust and willingness to work with the tough conditions we had.  Can’t wait to work with you again at your wedding in a couple of weeks.