Visit Cambridge during an early evening and you’ll get a different flavour of the city from the busy, bustling one that locals and visitors find during the day. The place is still busy, judging by the noise and gazing through the windows into restaurants and bars, but the atmosphere feels calmer and more relaxed. 

I met Justin and Amanda for their engagement session in Cambridge on one of these beautiful summer evenings. The couple had come all the way from North Carolina in America. Justin has been based in the UK for a few months, while Amanda was visiting him, so it made it extra special that I was photographing them as they reunited together.

They both wanted to take some memories of their time in Cambridge and have that reflected in the photographs. The couple said they love the documentary style and I was told that Amanda was camera shy, so we started the session gently with the couple both enjoying a drink sitting outside opposite King’s College. They wanted to wander around the small back streets to the river, so I took some photos of them strolling hand-in-hand.

They watched people being punted on the boats along the river. Amanda jokingly teased Justin that she would be standing on dry ground to watch him fall into the water when they go punting next time they were with friends. Any nerves or shyness must have disappeared at that point!

I have never been to North Carolina, but Justin and Amanda remarked several times how beautiful Cambridge is with the juxtaposition of the city with the green open spaces. The couple loved seeing the cows grazing by the river.  The evening light was beginning to turn a beautiful golden orange so we did some couple portraits in the meadow. I like to keep the sessions as natural, relaxed and unposed as possible, so apart from a little guidance on where to stand (avoiding the thistles and cow pats) the genuine intimacy and connection is all theirs.

I had lots of fun with this sweet couple. It was such a privilege to be asked to take some photographs of them during their short stay in England and give them some beautiful, authentic memories to remember.