Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove Engagement Shoot

Natasha and Sachin’s pre-wedding shoot at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove

Making portraits is fun. And I should explore the UK more.

I had never heard of Lulworth Cove or Durdle Door before Natasha and Sachin suggested that’s where they’d like to go for their pre-wedding portraits. But oh man, these locations are seriously something else. I didn’t feel like we were in the UK, such an incredible bit of our country. I knew Dorset had some amazing coastline and pretty special sunsets, but I had no idea it had such gems as Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. I can’t wait to go back and take my family for a visit!

The day before the shoot, Sachin emailed me to say that the weather wasn’t looking good and what did I suggest? They had both taken the day off work so postponing wasn’t an option, so we agree to just go ahead and I reassured him that I was confident of making great photos of them whatever the weather. I was flying down from Manchester and they were driving down from Birmingham so we had to make it worth the trip.

I boarded the plane in the Morning at Manchester Airport watching the rain trickle down the windows and bounce off the runway. There was some stomach churning turbulence as we passed through the storm clouds too. I landed in Southampton amidst similar weather and began to plan a series of rain shots in my head. I had an hour to drive from Southampton down to the Jurassic Coast and it rained most of the way. Like – properly rained.

I arrived at Lulworth Cove just ahead of our planned 4pm meeting time and went for a cup of tea to wait for Natasha and Sachin. Then something fairly miraculous happened. The rain had stopped just as I arrived and over the course of the next 30 minutes, the clouds began to disappear and the sun popped out for the first time that day. By the time Natasha and Sachin arrived, the weather continued to improve and by the time we started exploring, there was hardly a cloud left in the sky and the weather was positively summery!! It was still pretty chilly in the shade but there wasn’t much shade left!

An epic evening in every sense. We walked about 15,000 steps and couldn’t believe our luck.

Thanks Dorset – see you soon, old friend. I can’t wait for Natasha and Sachin’s August wedding in Cardiff…