Couple » Engagement » Fontaineblueau State Park in Louisiana

Louisiana’s climate is so diverse and beautiful; during my five years living in New Orleans, any time I had the opportunity to photograph outside of the city, it felt like a whole different world. This couple’s engagement session at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville felt like a dream, with the oak trees and Spanish moss, swampy cypress trees, and a white sandy beach along the lakefront, all in one location.

They contacted me from out of state, to book their engagement session during their vacation in New Orleans. When discussing location ideas, Sonia sent some photo examples of her dream location: a slightly swampy scene with cypress trees and water. It’s a bit of a drive to get to Fontainebleau State Park on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, but they were more than happy to drive for such a perfectly beautiful backdrop! I know some photographers in the area shoot at Fontainebleau regularly, but as it was about an hour drive, I only had the opportunity to visit a handful of times, and am thankful they chose this location.

During our session, we had what seemed like the whole park to ourselves! The weather report was threatening a full thunder and lightning rainstorm, which only made the skies more moody and beautiful. We spent the evening exploring the park, and ended up shooting into the ‘blue hour’ after the sun set, which I rarely do. As happens more often than not, when I was pulling out of the park to drive home after our session, the rain drops started to fall. The most magical sessions tend to include a little bit of adventure.

These are the kind words they left in their review:

Dani provided my fiancé and I with a beautiful and memorable experience. She took so much time and energy learning about our vision for engagement pictures and she absolutely delivered! You will not find a more dedicated and talented photographer!! She was very professional the whole step of the way and had such a contagious and fun-loving personality, to top it off!

We started off underneath the canopy of these big, beautiful live oak trees, draped in Spanish moss. I like to ease into sessions with some walking, cuddling, and seated shots, to shake off any potential nerves about being in front of the camera.

We continued our session on the beachfront, which is actually the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. They told me they were happy there was a beach, as he proposed on the beach, making the location more special to their love story.

Here, we got to incorporate those swampy cypress trees along the waterline.

Towards the end of our session, we had a little extra time to ‘play’. I brought my prism with me, and asked if we could spend a little time making some reflections, with the water, trees, and sky. While it’s difficult to explain to someone with words what the prism can do: “It reflects a part of our surroundings on top of the photo, making it feel a little surreal” is about the best I can do, without getting too technical. But after showing them the results, they were happy to experiment with the prism, as the sun went down behind the clouds. Below, you can see on the left, a prism-enhanced reflection, that almost looks like a natural water reflection. And on the right, you can see the cloudy sky reflected from above, onto the bottom of the frame.

Here we see the trees reflected from behind me, to the top of the frame, with a cute flare.

Couple » Engagement » Fontaineblueau State Park in Louisiana

© copyright 2009-2023 Dani Benton Photography | Japan | All Rights Reserved | Previously Dani Mouser | Previously Located in Oregon, Louisiana, Mexico