When planning last week’s trip to London, I decided that one of the shoots that I simply had to do was an engagement shoot with my friend Melissa and her fianceé Fabrizio.

I’ve known Melissa for about ten years, and if memory serves me right she and Fabrizio have been together since about 2002 (I’m open to correction on this point, though). They’re a wonderful and loving couple, and they’re great fun to shoot with.

We shot in Southwark Park, on a beautiful (though warm) Saturday morning. Luckily there was plenty of shade for us to work in, so I didn’t have to worry too much about the sun, though as you can see from the shot below, it did cause me a few problems (as did the plants in the Rose Garden, but we managed). This was one of those cases where you don’t mind too much if the sky blows out; it was worth it to get the shot.

This was my first engagement shoot, and I didn’t really know what to expect or how to handle it. Whilst I was on the train to London I watched Pieter Van Impe‘s LIME engagement shoot videos several times, hoping to find out exactly how I should work. It helped – most of all I learned that it was important to allow the couple to relax and have fun, which I think they did – though there are a couple of things I’ll definitely do differently next time. Namely:

1. Back off

All of the shots from my shoot with Melissa and Fabrizio are fairly close-up portraits. I would like to have done some full or three-quarter length shots.

2. Remember to do a walking shot

I didn’t, and I should have. I think this was mostly because we were so busy shooting that I forgot to even consider this as an option, but it would have been a lovely shot to get, especially in the Rose Garden, and would have rounded the shoot off nicely.

3. Get out of the park

Southwark Park is beautiful, no doubt about it, and it was a great place to shoot, especially since this was the first time I’d shot a set like this. But it would have been cool to shoot outside the park, or at least shoot on the road through the park and not just under the trees (this would have made a great walking shot, come to think of it). I think that the rule of thumb here should be to have at least two locations which should be very different from each other in terms of look and feel. That way, you have two opportunities to get some excellent shots, and with the right couple you can really make the images sing.

Next time…

Editorial shots of an artist, mucking about with a flash in the road, and how a mad Australian made my life fun by climbing trees. Of course, I need to edit the images first…