Engagement sessions in Paris are pure magic. As a Paris engagement photographer, I’ve photographed many engagement photoshoots, but I never get tired of it! What’s an engagement session, is that where you get down on one knee? No, an engagement session is typically when you’ve been proposed to and that part is over, now it’s time to celebrate with an engagement photo session, and of course, show off that shiny new ring!
Warm and Friendly Couple
Brianna and Nathan live in Massachusetts and are a friendly, warm and dynamic couple. Nathan’s in the restaurant business, and keeps very busy running a group of 13 restaurants. Brianna is a labor and delivery nurse, and that keeps her busy as well. Despite the fact that they don’t have a lot of free time, they love to travel together when they can, and this trip brought them to France. They came at a wonderful time of year, too.
Is there really a bad time to visit Paris? No, not really. It depends on your personal tastes. Winter for me is a bit too gray and rainy to suit me, but it never usually gets super cold and while rain is common, snow is rare. Spring is also often rainy, but comes with the benefit of more sunlight also and the incredible blooming trees which make the city come to life.
Summer is great, we can get hot weather, especially as the climate has shifted, but you can expect warm, long sunny days (it doesn’t get dark for much of the summer until 10:00 pm). My favorite time of year is late April into May and early September.
Early September is a Great Time to Visit Paris
Early September is great because Parisians are back to work after their summer holidays, so there’s a sense of excitement in the air. New season, new happenings. The weather is also generally mild and pleasant, with amazing light. Plus, as many tourists have gone home, it’s a bit calmer than summer.
For me, as a Paris photographer, I love the light in early September, and also the gardens. Parisians are fortunate to have so many lovely gardens. The Tuileries Gardens are the most central in Paris and most visited, followed by the stunning Luxembourg Gardens. The gardens most often overlooked by tourists is the Jardin des Plantes. In September, the plants are fully grown, and what I call, “fluffy”. Meaning, they’ve reached their peak of height and flowering and the plants and flowers are simply stunning.
I was very lucky because Brianna and Nathan wanted a real variety of Paris landscapes. They were interested in a few Eiffel Tower photos, but mostly wanted to explore the natural beauty of Paris. Nathan really wanted to incorporate some gardens and Brianna loves Montmartre, so with a bit of planning, we were able to do both!
Views of the Eiffel Tower from the Seine River
We started at the Eiffel Tower river location and then made our way to a cute neighborhood. The September sun is bright in the morning and the light bouncing off the Eiffel Tower casts a bit of orange color, but it just goes with the territory. Then, we made our way across town for a quick stop on the Pont Alexandre, the bridge I find the most beautiful in Paris, and this way from afar we could get some more beautiful Eiffel Tower shots without the orange haze that appeared from closer up.
Then, on to the Tuileries, where I photographed this beautiful couple with a view of the Louvre Museum in the background, and then a trip to the Jardin des Plantes, which was bursting with color. It was so easy to photograph Brianna and Nathan, because they’re so in love, they were natural and easy together, and while not all of us adore the idea of being photographed, in Paris, and in other parts of France, you have so much beauty surrounding you that it is much more fun than most people think it will be.
Visiting the Quaint Village of Montmartre in Paris
Brianna had been to Montmartre once before, and loves it. She requested a charming location, typically Parisian, and Montmartre definitely fits the bill. Montmartre, also known as the “butte” is a hilltop neighborhood that once wasn’t even part of Paris at all. Now, part of the city, it’s scenic, charming and feels like a village. Yes, it’s quite touristy, but for a good reason, the views are spectacular!
You’ll notice there’s a lot of emotion in Brianna and Nathan’s photos, and in engagement sessions, we often do a lot of embraces and kisses. This stands to reason, after all, we’re celebrating an engagement. It’s not mandatory though, each couple has their own way to show affection but a romantic kiss in many Parisian locations, I have to say, is pretty special and I love to photograph the love stories of my clients!
The time went too fast for Brianna and Nathan’s Paris photoshoot to suit me, I’d have loved to keep them all day, but they had fun things to do, so I went back to my office and began working on converting my images to magic with my signature editing style. This is the cherry on the top, the final step in the process, and I love creating images that not only tell a story of a memorable day in Paris, but one that my clients will look back on for years and remember fondly.
I am so thankful to Brianna and Nathan for choosing me to be their engagement photographer in Paris. They were an absolutely amazing couple to work with, I had so much fun and will remember this session forever!
Karina Leigh Photography
Would you love to have an engagement photoshoot in the Paris gardens and Montmartre? I so love photographing happy couples in Paris, contact me to learn more!
