Michelle and Ricardo’s engagement session at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver was a pretty special full-circle moment. A year earlier, I had been photographing a wedding at the park when I happened to stumble across Ricardo proposing. My bride was just as excited as I was, and insisted I photograph the proposal, so I quietly picked up my camera and captured the moment for them!

Fast forward a year, and now Michelle and Ricardo are planning their own wedding. They came back to Queen Elizabeth Park for their engagement photos, surrounded by an explosion of colour with flowers in bloom throughout the gardens. We wandered through the park, stopping wherever the light, flowers, and little pockets of colour caught our attention, letting the session unfold naturally.

They also wanted to incorporate a little European tradition into the afternoon: a love lock with their names on it. Queen Elizabeth Park has its own beautiful answer to the tradition, with Love in the Rain, a sculpture created specifically for couples to attach their locks as a symbol of their love and commitment.

It was amazing, photographing their engagement at the same place where their story had unexpectedly crossed my camera a year earlier. This time, instead of a surprise proposal, I got to photograph the two of them exactly where they are now: happy, engaged, surrounded by flowers, and getting ready for the next chapter.