Meaghan + Jennie | Queer Engagement Session at High Park, Toronto
There is something about engagement sessions that I really love. Without the timeline and activity of a wedding day, there is space to slow down, wander around together, and create photographs that are simply about the two of you.
For Meaghan and Jennie’s engagement session, we headed to High Park in Toronto for an evening of exploring, laughing, getting a little close, and documenting this chapter of their relationship before their wedding.
High Park is one of those Toronto locations that gives us plenty of room to move. Rather than staying in one spot and working through a list of poses, we wandered together and let the landscape, light and their connection guide the session.
That is generally how I approach couples photography.
I’m much less interested in making two people stand perfectly and smile at my camera than I am in photographing the way they actually interact with one another—the way someone reaches for their partner’s hand, the look that happens just before they both start laughing, the quiet moments in between, and all of the little things that make a relationship feel like yours.
Meaghan and Jennie made that incredibly easy.
Their session was playful, affectionate and intimate, with plenty of movement and laughter along the way. We explored different parts of High Park, taking advantage of the greenery and changing evening light while creating a collection of photographs that felt relaxed rather than overly posed.
Engagement sessions are also a wonderful opportunity to get comfortable being photographed together before your wedding.
Most of the couples I work with aren't accustomed to having a camera following them around—and I don't expect them to be. You don't need to know how to pose, where to put your hands, or what you're supposed to be doing.
That's my job.
Your job is mostly to show up, be together, and trust that I'll guide you when you need it while also leaving enough space for the genuine moments to happen.
As a queer photographer in Toronto, I also know how meaningful it can be to work with someone who understands that LGBTQ+ couples don't need to be photographed according to traditional gendered roles or ideas about what romance is supposed to look like.
There is no formula for how two people should love each other, and there shouldn't be a formula for how that love is photographed either.
My goal is always to create photographs that feel like the people in them.
And with Meaghan and Jennie, that meant a little adventure through High Park, lots of laughter, plenty of affection, and photographs that celebrate exactly who they are together.
Looking for a queer or LGBTQ+ engagement photographer in Toronto? I photograph couples and engagements with a candid, documentary-inspired approach that centres genuine connection, movement and the ways you naturally love each other.
If you're newly engaged—or simply want photographs of the two of you as you are right now—I’d love to hear from you. Get in touch and tell me a little about yourselves and what you have in mind.