It was a bright, warm, afternoon, the Monday of Thanksgiving weekend, when I met up with Brad and Laura at Muskoka Bible Centre near Port Sydney, in the heart of Muskoka, for their engagement session.

Muskoka Bible Centre has a special place in Brad and Laura’s hearts as they met while working there a few summers earlier. I have photographed at many Muskoka locations but I had never been to the MBC before, so I arrived about an hour early and scouted out the property before Brad and Laura arrived.   There had been a large conference at the centre over the long weekend and the day was unusually bright for mid-October, so  I was keen to find a range of shooting sites that offered a combination of interesting backdrops, as well as a bit of privacy and shelter from the sun.

Brad, Laura and I had not met in person before.  They had booked me a few months earlier and we had handled all the details via e-mail and phone so when they arrived we spent a bit of time talking about how they met at the centre and how that made it a good fit for their engagement photo session.

I started off slowly, letting Brad and Laura get comfortable in front of the lens and before long they were obviously at ease.  We worked our way through several of the spots I had scouted out and were winding down our session when Brad and Laura told me about a spot where they had their first date.  I asked then to show me the spot. They took me down an old trail towards the back of the property to a lovely glade of tall, majestic, pines and hemlocks overlooking a beautiful marsh.  While we were doing a number of shots there Brad and Laura told me about the very romantic picknic they had at that very spot. Watching the excitement in their eyes as they told me about that first date I understood why the MBC had a special spot in their hearts.

I am looking forward to working with this great couple again next August at their wedding north of Burks Falls.