Francesca and Chris found me online a few weeks before their Puerto Rico couples trip. Newly engaged and staying in Aguadilla, they were flexible about the location: they just wanted beautiful photos. That was the whole brief in their inquiry, my favorite kind, because I get to suggest and surprise!

An Engagement Session Woven Into a Puerto Rico Vacation

Doing your engagement photos during a couples trip means you're rested, sunkissed, and flying back home with memories of an unforgettable trip before life and wedding madness starts.

Before the trip, we hopped on a quick call so we could get to know each other. Then I sent a shortlist of beaches along the west coast. Two places, I had photographed before, the third one was a wildcard.

Playa Peña Blanca as a Photoshoot Location

Peña Blanca isn't new to me: I have spend countless beach days there, and have done someof the best snorkeling and freediving in the area, drifting over the reefs and following sea turtles.

I had never, however, brought my camera down with a couple. What kept pulling me into it is the way that the beach sits. It faces directly west, the sun sets straigth into the ocean for most of the year. It also has a very narrow coast, which means rocks and cliffs are also enhancing the background in most of the photos.

The Francesca and Chris flew in a few days earlier, and were able to scout the location on their own before the photoshoot day. They wrote back that they were going with Peña Blanca. I was thrilled!

Going down a cliff into an emptying beach

We met at the top of the cliff an hour before sunset. Getting down to Peña Blanca is part of the adventure. After finding street parking, you must walk down into the south side of the cliff. Using the steps carved into the cliff face, and at the bottom one big jump over the rocks lands you in the sand. It isn't the most accessible beach in Aguadilla, you'll need to be comfortable propping yourself up and out on the way back.

The coastline is narrow, and during the day it fills up with swimmers and snokelers. As the light starts to drop, thought, people pack up and head back up. We walked to the end of the beach, past the beachgoers, and by the time we got going, the place was mostly ours.

West-facing beaches like Peña Blanca are gorgeous for photography, but they don't forgive bad timing. Arrive too early and you'll be standing in direct, harsh sunlight with no shade to escape from it. This means squinting faces and a serious sunburn. I plan these sessions aroudn the exact sunset time for the date, so the light is low and temperatures manageable.

From shy to giggle: warming up to a couples portrait session in Puerto Rico

As most couples, Francesca and Chris started out a little shy. I don't fix that with posing, I keep people moving instead. A portrait session is a buildup, and still poses tend to stall or dissolve the energy before it has a chance to develop. So I give action cues instead: walk together, dance a little, tease each other, run. Then I step back and let the couple slip into their own little bubble.

They got sweet, then giggly, and then completely playful. A sailboat sat anchored offshore for most of our session, an unpaid actor. As the day cooled down, this turned into a very high-energy session: we ended up sweaty, sandy, and salty!

When Francesca saw the gallery, she wrote back that the shoot had been their favorite day of the whole trip. Coming from a couple who didn't know the island, trusting a beach I had never photographed, it really meant a lot for me. They're married now, but I still think about that evening everytime I visit.

xo,

Cami