GINA & ANTON

Currumbin Valley – 27th November 2018

I’ve never really posted a lot of “engagement shoot” work. Without trying to sound too much of a wanker, I’m a guy who really focusses on the ‘documentary’ aspect of a wedding day, catching all the little moments, the details, the action, the so called “in-between”. I’m not the photographer who does posed family photos in the park, and therefore, for a little while I thought that engagement shoots were a bit of a challenge. How do I take the documentary aspect and apply it to this?

A while ago now though, that kinda changed. I started to treat engagement shoots with the same approach as a wedding. I thought, it’s still just about capturing what’s real. It’ still about who showing who people are. Really I’m just documenting the love between them. Same as a wedding.

And that’s exactly what it is. I’m just there, mostly asking people to walk and talk, tell each other jokes and hangout. Afterward, a lot of people say things like: ”well that was really easy”, or “that wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be”. And I guess it shouldn’t be hard. Sometimes we go and drink beers and sit on a headland, sometimes we go swimming, sometimes its just a sunset walk with your arms around each other.

I think people think that they might fail at the photo taking part of their wedding day, so they want a little praccy-run first. Which, if you’re feeling nervous, is 100% a great idea. But honestly I think the most under-estimated part of these little sessions is just having some time to enjoy some fresh-air, get some beautiful photos of the two of you and just “be together”. That’s my aim anyway.

Here are Gina and Anton in Currumbin a few weeks ago. They get married in January.