Engagement Photographer Montreal
Most couples who book an engagement session tell me the same thing at the start: “I'm not sure I'm photogenic!” Or: “We don't really know how to pose.” Or, most honestly: “We're a little nervous about this.”
That's exactly where we start! Also, you are photogenic. I’ll prove it!
An engagement session is how you go from "we don't really know how to do this" to showing up on your wedding day completely at ease in front of a camera. It's two hours of being yourselves in a place you love, with someone who knows how to see the real moments and capture them. By the end of it you'll have photos that look like your actual life, and comfort in front of the lens.
It Starts With Your Life
The first thing I ask is, “What are the things the make your relationship yours?”
Where did you go on your first date? What do you do on a Sunday morning? Is there a street in Montreal that feels like yours — a café you've been going to for years, a bar where you've had your best conversations, a record store you always end up in? Is there something you do together — a hobby, a ritual, a season you both love — that's quietly become part of the fabric of your relationship?
Once I understand what matters to you, I plan the session, factoring in the time of year, the quality of light at different hours, and business levels at the specific locations we choose. The planning is intentional to create the smoothest and most beautiful session possible.
Favourite neighbourhood? We walk it. A restaurant or café you're obsessed with? We go there. A hobby you share — cinema, hiking, road tripping, bird watching — we build it in. Your home, the place where you're most completely yourselves, is sometimes that's the best location of all.
The goal is always the same: by the time we're done, the photos should be unmistakably yours. Someone who knows you should look at them and think of course that's where they went.
What Actually Happens When You've Never Done This Before
What’s a session like from start to finish? I planned a session for Sophie and James to start at the movie theatre where they'd had their first date, then walk from the Plateau to downtown, and end at one of their favourite bars.
When they arrived at the theatre, they were nervous. They'd never had professional photos taken before. I began with tight direction. I started giving them specific direction at first, taking care of every part of the session so they only had to do what I say. As they got comfortable with the camera and started having fun following my directions ("rest your head on his shoulder and hold up the newspaper! Lift the newspaper higher! Angle your head up!"), instructions became looser. They relaxed and gained confidence. I started asking them to walk over there and stand under those lights, or walk down the staircase hand in hand, and they started moving in ways natural to them so that I could capture their authentic relationship.
By the time we reached the bar, they had trust in my vision, excitement about the results, and confidence in their wedding day portraits.
Why These Photos Matter More Than You Think Right Now
The photos you take right now will become some of the most treasured images you ever own.
Right now you are exactly this age, with exactly this energy, in exactly this chapter of your life. The way you look at each other right now, before you're married, before whatever chaos comes next, is beautiful. In twenty years, when you pull these up, you won't be thinking about whether your hair was perfect. You'll be thinking: look at us! Look how young we were. Look how happy. And realizing in a way that you can’t right now how beautiful you were.
These are the photos you'll frame. The ones that will make you genuinely emotional when you find them in a folder fifteen years from now and call your partner over to look.
What It Does For Your Wedding Day
There's a practical reason photographers recommend engagement sessions before weddings!
Couples who arrive at their wedding day having already done a session together are visibly different in front of the camera. The uncertainty about where to stand and what to do has already been worked through. They've been through the arc. They know what it feels like when the direction gets looser and the real moments start happening. There’s joy and trust with their photographer. They know the things they especially loved and the things they didn’t like so much from their engagement session, so they can show up in a way they know they like for their wedding portraits.
Instead of starting from zero when we only have a small window of time to create stunning results, we are picking up where we left off. The comfort and willingness to be completely present are already there.
Ready to Plan Yours?
Tell me about your favourite neighbourhood, your first date, the bar you always end up at. Tell me about the season you love most and the thing you do together that nobody else really knows about.
Everything follows from there — and it's going to be a really good time!
