Mercedes + Anthony | Fall Engagement Session at Evergreen Brick Works
Mercedes and Anthony met me at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto on a beautiful fall evening, with the kind of warm, low light that makes an autumn engagement session especially magical.
By late fall, the landscape at the Brick Works takes on a completely different character. The greens of summer give way to tall golden grasses, dried wildflowers and earthy autumn tones, while the surrounding trees hold onto the last bits of fall colour. Add golden-hour sunlight streaming through it all, and we couldn't have asked for a better setting.
A Fall Engagement Session at Evergreen Brick Works
Evergreen Brick Works is one of my favourite locations for engagement photography in Toronto because it doesn't feel like you're in the middle of the city.
The trails and natural areas give us plenty of room to wander rather than staying in one place and working through a series of poses. And in the fall, all of that texture and colour becomes an incredible backdrop without ever competing with the people in the photographs.
For Mercedes and Anthony, we kept things simple.
We walked. We stopped when the light was beautiful. They held each other, made each other laugh, kissed, and occasionally forgot about me and my camera altogether.
Which is exactly what I want.
Engagement Photos That Feel Like You
You don't need to arrive at an engagement session knowing how to pose.
In fact, I'd rather you didn't.
Most people aren't completely comfortable having a camera pointed at them—and there's absolutely no reason you should already know what to do. I'll offer direction, find the light and give you something to do when you need it, but I also leave plenty of room for the two of you to naturally interact.
I'm much more interested in the way you actually fit together than in positioning every hand perfectly.
With Mercedes and Anthony, some of my favourite photographs came from that balance: a little direction followed by space for something genuine to happen.
A hand around a waist. Leaning into one another. The moment just before a kiss. A quiet look. Mercedes showing off her engagement ring while the two of them kissed behind it.
The photographs are beautiful because the light and landscape were beautiful—but they're meaningful because Mercedes and Anthony are in them.
Golden Hour in Toronto
As the sun dropped lower, everything around us softened.
Golden hour is especially beautiful at Evergreen Brick Works because the surrounding landscape catches the light in layers—the tall grasses glow, sunlight filters through the trees and even the dried plants of late autumn become warm and luminous.
Mercedes and Anthony chose soft, neutral clothing that worked beautifully with those surroundings: creams, grey and warm natural tones that let their connection remain the focus of the photographs.
We spent the rest of the evening following the light until there wasn't much of it left.
That's one of my favourite ways for an engagement session to unfold. No complicated itinerary. No pressure to perform. Just somewhere beautiful to wander together, enough gentle direction to help you forget about the camera, and time to document this particular chapter of your relationship.
Because engagement photographs don't only have to be about announcing that you're getting married.
They're also an opportunity to preserve who you were together before the wedding day arrived.
And years from now, I hope these photographs bring Mercedes and Anthony right back to a warm fall evening in Toronto, standing together among the golden grasses with the sun disappearing behind them.
Looking for an engagement photographer in Toronto? I photograph couples and engagements with a candid, documentary-inspired approach that centres genuine connection, movement and photographs that feel like you.
If you're engaged—or simply want to document this chapter of your relationship together—I’d love to hear from you. Get in touch and tell me a little about yourselves and what you have in mind.