Paris winter engagement photo session

I really loved shooting Sofia & Andrew’s romantic and casual Paris winter engagement photo session. And in this blogpost I will show and explain you why booking a Paris photoshoot in winter or winter elopement in Paris can be a great idea – in spite of the cold temperatures.

Why booking a Paris photoshoot in winter?

Sofia & Andrew reached out to me shortly after they got engaged. They were planning a romantic trip to Paris shortly and wanted to use the chance to book an engagement photoshoot in Paris. The couple from New York planned to be in Paris in January. As their local Paris photographer I made sure that they knew that it might be pretty cold in January during their Paris winter engagement photo session.

A lot of couples prefer to wait until it gets warmer to schedule their Paris engagement photoshoot. But not Sofia & Andrew, they were not worried about the season. They wanted to have a rather casual Paris winter engagement photo session anyway. So no need for them to wear an evening gown or suit – in which they would freeze in winter in Paris while taking engagement pictures.

Instead the couple chose smart casual outfits: Sofia wore a beautiful long camel color coat, turtle neck, jeans and ankle boot – and she looked gorgeous in this winter outfit. Andrew was dressed in a winter outfit mainly in black color tones. So even if it was very cold on the day of their Paris winter engagement photo session (-7 C/ 20 F), they kept warm in their smart casual winter outfits.

As professional engagement photographer in Paris I personally love winter photo sessions for three reasons: First during winter time the light conditions are especially beautiful. The sun does not rise so high in the sky, so the light has a softer and more flattering quality. Also in winter we can often experience the most beautiful sunrises or a hazy sunshine that makes everything look magical.

Second the streets and sights in Paris are not as busy as in summer. So we don’t have to worry so much about crowds, tourists groups or many passersby in the background of the photos. To avoid crowds I usually schedule my photoshoots in Paris as early in the morning as possible, ideally around sunrise.

Which leads me to the third thing a prefer about Paris winter engagement photo session: Sun in winter rises a lot later than in summer. So we don’t have to wake up so extremely early to have the best possible conditions for the photo shoot. Summer sunrises are at around 6 AM, winter sunrises more around 8 AM.

Romantic Paris winter engagement photo session

We started Sofia & Andrew’s engagement photoshoot in Paris at Bir-Hakeim bridge, where we have a beautiful view on the Eiffel Tower and can also use the stunning architecture of the famous inception bridge as a backdrop of the photos. However this photoshoot location can be a little windy, so we soon moved on to the next area and took a ride to get to the Louvre museum.

When we arrived there we were blessed with gorgeous sunshine – which made us feel warmer and the light was also looking beautiful on their Paris engagement pictures. Really, only in winter we can have this kind of magical light as the sun is very low.

We finished their engagement photo session in the pretty Cafe Le Nemours. As experienced engagement photographer in Paris I love finishing winter photoshoots in a romantic Parisian street cafe. Because we can warm up there with a hot chocolate, coffee or latte. Even if we arrived there at 12 pm, which is lunchtime and usually rush hour in Parisian street Cafes and restaurants, we were able to enjoy the Cafe terrace just for ourselves to take more pictures. Because all other clients were staying inside the Cafe.