We had spent several weeks planning this engagement session. Emily has been studying in Victoria, while Bhavi is working in Vancouver, and she and I met on a snowy winter evening on the West Shore, to discuss their September 2019 wedding. She told me of Bhavi’s love of Vancouver Island and more specifically the west coast. Later via texts and emails, we decided on a Sooke beach, ideally at low tide and during golden hour, that would coincide with Bhavi’s visit to Victoria. Alas, the forces of nature had other ideas! Weeks of snow, followed by rain and then finally as the weather cleared, every evening golden hour seemed to be at high tide.

I remembered that the beach I had in mind has patches of high tree cover accessible at low tide, which could provide some shade. Studying my light map and tide forecast on the day Bhavi was scheduled to visit, I calculated that if we arrived at 9am and were finished shooting no later than 9:30am, we could squeak by before the sun became unbearably harsh.

So, on a sunny Sunday morning in May, Bhavi and Emily picked me up and we headed to Sooke. We chatted about everything under the sun on our thirty minute drive! We arrived to a packed parking lot and with relief realized that everybody else was setting off down a completely different path. The beach was all ours. Bhavi was clearly spellbound - “I had no idea this was here.” Just as my lightmap had predicted we had a patch of shade, stunning sea views and the perfect west coast setting.