Relaxed Blue Pool Engagement Photographs In Autumn
Woodland colour, low afternoon light and a couple who became more comfortable with every step.
Our wedding couples often have reservations about being in front of the camera. Tara was fairly happy about having her photograph taken. Luke was less convinced. Their Blue Pool engagement photographs were never going to be about dropping them into a location and immediately asking them to perform for the camera. We had time to walk, talk, explore somewhere they already knew and let the photographs develop around them.
By the end of the afternoon, Luke was still joking and laughing, but the nerves behind some of those jokes had gone. More importantly, Tara and Luke were starting to suggest ideas themselves. That told me far more about how to photograph them than any carefully arranged pose ever could.
Why The Blue Pool For Their Engagement Shoot?
I first met Tara and Luke at a wedding fair, before they had even settled on a wedding date or venue. They already knew they wanted us to photograph the wedding, and once the date was in the diary they booked us. As their plans developed, we talked through venue ideas too. Eventually they chose an autumn wedding at Kingston Country Courtyard.
Autumn mattered to them. They loved the colour, the lower light and the feel of that time of year, so it made sense to carry some of that into their engagement photographs. The Blue Pool near Wareham was somewhere they had visited before and already liked. Its mix of woodland paths, heath, water and viewpoints suited the outdoor feel they wanted without asking them to pretend the place meant something it did not.
We had originally planned to meet in the morning. Instead, we moved the shoot to the afternoon to give ourselves a better chance of using the lower autumn light. The date itself had already needed a bit of flexibility around recent wind and rain, seasonal illnesses and wedding planning meetings, so changing the time was simply another practical decision.
I arrived a couple of hours early and walked the reserve more than once. That gave me time to look at the light, colours and viewpoints before Tara and Luke arrived. I had plenty of possibilities in mind, but I did not want to turn the afternoon into a rigid route. They knew the Blue Pool too, so I let them help guide where we went and what felt right as the session unfolded.
Blue Pool Dorset Facts And History
The setting has more history behind it than the name suggests. The Blue Pool's own history places it within the 300-acre Furzebrook Estate on the Isle of Purbeck. The pool began as a hand-quarried clay pit in the 17th century. After quarrying ended in the early 19th century, the pit filled with rainwater, while tiny clay particles suspended in the water created the shifting blue and green colours that gave the place its name. It opened to the public in 1935 and the site was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1985.
Today there are more than 30 acres of paths and walkways around the reserve, which helps explain why one engagement shoot can move through such different backgrounds without leaving the site. The rope bridge we used during Tara and Luke’s session is another distinctive feature: the Blue Pool describes it as the UK’s longest rope bridge, stretching 50 metres through the trees and standing around 10 metres above the ground.
The Blue Pool Wedding Venue In Dorset
The Blue Pool is also a newly registered Dorset wedding venue, with its own wedding information describing a ceremony area beside the lake, more than 25 acres of Purbeck scenery for photographs and an Art Deco Nouveau room seating up to 48. Dorset Council also lists the venue with licensed ceremony areas, reception facilities and a maximum capacity of 90.
Relaxed Engagement Photographs Start Before The Camera Comes Out
I approach engagement shoots in much the same way whenever somebody tells me they are uncomfortable in front of a camera. For the first five, ten, sometimes fifteen minutes, I may not take a photograph at all. We walk. We talk about the wedding plans, how the couple met, what they like about the location and what sort of photographs appeal to them. It means the first thing they have to get used to is me being there, not a lens pointing at them.
There is a reason we include engagement sessions and talk about this in our guide to why you need engagement photos. Camera confidence is not something every couple arrives with. Sometimes it is easier to build it gradually, without making a big thing of it.
Once I did start photographing Tara and Luke, I began from quite a distance away. Then, as they settled into the afternoon, I worked closer. Luke initially seemed to mask some of his nerves with jokes and laughter. The jokes did not disappear as he relaxed, thankfully. They just stopped feeling like a shield.
Relaxed Couple Photographs At Their Pace
That gradual approach also gives me time to watch how a couple actually behaves together. With Tara and Luke, the answer was quickly obvious. If one of them relaxed, the other followed. They bounced off each other, shared in jokes and had a slightly naughty sense of humour that kept appearing whenever they forgot about the camera. Those are the moments worth making room for.
Autumn Engagement Photographs Around The Blue Pool
The nice thing about the Blue Pool is that the backgrounds change as you walk. One minute the water opens up through the trees, then the path narrows into woodland, and elsewhere the rope bridge and some of the more playful installations give the place a completely different feel. The photographs did not need one repeated backdrop with Tara and Luke moved around inside it.
The recent weather had left us thinking carefully about conditions before the shoot, but once we were there the aim was simply to use what the afternoon gave us. We looked for autumn colour, clean viewpoints and places where Tara and Luke could keep moving rather than being planted on a mark. That movement suited them. It gave them something to do and kept the session conversational.
Later in the set, the pines, bracken and heath bring in more of the autumn texture they had wanted from the start. By then the difference in their body language is easy to see. They are not waiting for me to invent every photograph. They are interacting, laughing and bringing ideas into it themselves.
Autumn Engagement Photographs Around The Blue Pool
The nice thing about the Blue Pool is that the backgrounds change as you walk. One minute the water opens up through the trees, then the path narrows into woodland, and elsewhere the rope bridge and some of the more playful installations give the place a completely different feel. The photographs did not need one repeated backdrop with Tara and Luke moved around inside it.
The recent weather had left us thinking carefully about conditions before the shoot, but once we were there the aim was simply to use what the afternoon gave us. We looked for autumn colour, clean viewpoints and places where Tara and Luke could keep moving rather than being planted on a mark. That movement suited them. It gave them something to do and kept the session conversational.
Later in the set, the pines, bracken and heath bring in more of the autumn texture they had wanted from the start. By then the difference in their body language is easy to see. They are not waiting for me to invent every photograph. They are interacting, laughing and bringing ideas into it themselves.
Blue Pool Engagement Photographs That Felt Like Them
One of the most useful things I learned during the afternoon was that Tara and Luke are not a couple who need every idea handed to them. Once they were comfortable, they started suggesting photographs themselves. Their humour became part of the pictures rather than something happening in between them.
That is useful to know before a wedding. I now knew that giving them a little space would probably produce more than trying to control every movement. I knew they could make each other laugh, that one person relaxing helped the other, and that there was plenty of personality to work with when they were allowed to bounce ideas around.
It also meant the engagement shoot had done exactly what we wanted it to do. They had a set of photographs they enjoyed, but we had also removed a lot of the unknowns before the wedding day.
“I just wanted to say thank you sooooo much for our engagement shoot pictures. We love them! It makes us even more excited now for the wedding day pictures.”
From Blue Pool Engagement Photographs To Kingston Country Courtyard
Tara and Luke had already chosen an autumn wedding at Kingston Country Courtyard, so there was a neat connection between what they wanted from the engagement shoot and the atmosphere they were planning for the wedding. The Blue Pool gave them the woodland and seasonal colour they liked, while the shoot itself gave us something even more valuable: time together without wedding day timings or guests waiting for them.
By the time we finished, I had a much better sense of what makes them relax and how naturally their humour comes through when they have space to be themselves. Luke had gone from being noticeably nervous about the camera to being comfortable enough to enjoy the process. Tara and Luke were suggesting their own ideas. That is exactly the sort of information I want to take into a wedding day.
Planning Your Own Engagement Photographs In Dorset?
If you are planning a wedding and the thought of being photographed makes either of you uneasy, an engagement shoot can be a useful way to take away some of that uncertainty. You can see more of our engagement photographs in Dorset and Hampshire, or get in touch with us to talk about your wedding plans and the sort of locations that would actually suit you.
Want to see more? Check out our other engagement photo shoots:
New Forest Engagement Shoot With Faye & James
Faye and James’s New Forest engagement shoot was a wedding photographer’s dream come true.
I photographed the happy couple during golden hour as the sun bathed the ancient woodland in a warm, romantic light.
Even though Faye & James were initially camera shy, they soon relaxed and embraced the moments. The memory of their laughter echoing through the trees still brings a smile to my face.
The resulting photographs are a stunning blend of the New Forest’s natural beauty and Faye & Jame’s heartfelt emotions.
Purbeck Countryside Engagement Photographs With Morgan & Andy
The story of Morgan and Andy’s engagement shoot, a couple living in the stunning Purbeck countryside. Given Andy’s farming background, we had plenty of picturesque locations to choose from. The shoot began at the local farm in Kingston, Dorset, where they introduced their dogs and we discussed their wedding plans.
Morgan and Andy relaxed into and enjoyed the experience, becoming more comfortable with the camera. We visited various locations, including a secluded coastal valley, a field with Morgan’s horse, St James’s Church, and St Aldhelm’s Head. The couple’s love for each other and their genuine personalities were evident throughout the fun packed shoot.
Capturing the Magic Of Spring – Bluebell Engagement Photographs in Dorset
Fancy an engagement session in stunning English woodlands carpeted in bluebells? Who wouldn’t?
This is the story of Luke and Liv’s bluebell engagement photographs in Dorset. Featuring a fun filled couple romping about in the Dorset countryside, a carpet of stunning blubells, bright green fieldsyellow flowers all under the bright spring sun.
