A Bayfront Park Engagement

McKenzie and Will are one of my 2021 couples! I usually meet with brides in person before they book, but have been holding consultations via phone call or FaceTime these past few months. I was excited to meet McKenzie and Will in person at their engagement session! Since we’d only spoken on the phone, I didn’t have faces to go with their names. It didn’t occur to me until I was getting out of my car in the parking lot that I had no idea what these two looked like! Ironically, we happened to park right next to each other.

Before our parking lot meeting, I was on the way to our shoot location when McKenzie called with the news that they were closed. I had to think of a backup location ASAP! McKenzie and Will love the water and spending time outdoors. We needed a location close to our original meeting spot because I didn’t want us to lose out on the beautiful light.

Suddenly, Bayfront Park popped into my mind! McKenzie isn’t from the Mobile area so she wasn’t familiar with the park, but thankfully I have several sessions here on my blog that were done at the park. After a quick look at some of those posts, McKenzie and Will said it sounded like a good option to them.

The Best Laid Plans

While I was pretty excited to shoot at a new location, I have to say that this backup plan couldn’t have worked out better. The light was absolutely beautiful and we had just the right amount of light peeking through the clouds for some photos down by the water. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work out, but what you get is better than what you initially imagined.

The beach at Bayfront Park in Daphne, Alabama is a hidden gem. It doesn’t have the white sandy beaches of Orange Beach, but it’s a generally quiet spot with a lot of variety. The day of this shoot the pier was actually busier than normal. Fortunately, a sweet couple let us use their private pier for some portraits at the end of the shoot!

When I asked permission to shoot on their pier, I was hoping to take one or two photos and then move on, but the couple offered for us to walk out to the end of the pier, which was amazing!!! We got some of my favorite shots from the session in this spot and on top of that we had a gorgeous view of the sunset!

McKenzie and Will, thank you for trusting me and going with the flow on switching plans last minute for this shoot! I know you are both going to be such a joy to work with on wedding day!

My first time seeing an alligator at this park! I’ve always known they were there, but they’ve always stayed hidden on past visits!

McKenzie has a background in Marine Sciences so when she spotted this crab and picked it up, she gave me an idea for a very unique ring shot!