Ottawa Ornamental Gardens Engagement Session: Ellen + Mike

I am so incredibly happy that the weather forecast was wrong leading up to Ellen + Mike’s engagement session! Everything had been calling for rain – so much so that we were thinking of alternative locations and some indoor spots. Thankfully, come Sunday morning the skies looked completely clear and super sunny and the forecast changed its opinion on the whole rain matter.

And if I’m being honest, the weather has been weird for a while now and although I am not the biggest fan of the summer heat, I was definitely getting tired of the in-between seasons weather, complete with dry, dead-looking grass and empty trees. Initially Ellen + Mike’s session was going to be earlier in the year, but we really wanted to get some of those gorgeous pink blooms mixed into their photos and since they were a little later than usual this year, we bumped it a bit and crossed our fingers (spoiler alert: we found a few blooming trees and were able to get those blossoms in the session).

Now, I know I am talking about weather a lot in this post so far, but it really was a gorgeous day. It was warm in the sun but there was still a nice cool breeze. The cloudless, sunny sky also meant that I was able to whip out a few toys/tools to incorporate into some of Ellen + Mike’s session, which I of course found to be extra fun!

I have always thought that things like prisms were a little gimmicky, but at the same time they can create some really cool images. So I treat them as a few and far between kind of thing when I do end up using them in sessions – meaning that I grab a few different shots with them and then go back to the straight images as I find those focus on the couple and their moments better. But I will say that I did have an extra dose of fun being able to grab those few prism shots!

But what really made this shoot fantastic were Ellen + Mike themselves. They had this great relaxed, joyful approach to their engagement session and made the evening absolutely wonderful. And of course, the fact that they absolutely rocked everything I threw at them was definitely amazing too! Mix it all with that gorgeous, glowy evening light and this engagement session was truly marvelous!

Special thanks to Ginny Johnson Makeup Artistry for doing such a wonderful job with Ellen’s make-up before the shoot!