Fantastic Locations for a Lake District Engagement Photoshoot
Pre-Wedding Photoshoots in Cumbria
The Lake District is brilliant. Even better, the Lake District is a brilliant location for photography. Everywhere you look there’s an interesting view or background. It’s incredibly scenic, which is probably why so many people chose the Lake District for their wedding, a holiday and to explore everything that the countryside has to offer. The Lake District is also a perfect location for a photoshoot, and if you’re newly engaged and want some photographs to celebrate, where better than the Lake District for an Engagement Photoshoot.
As a wedding photographer who lives and works in the Lake District, I also get to meet my clients before their wedding day for an engagement, or pre-wedding, photoshoot. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet up and get to know each other before the wedding day, and it’s a great way to put my couples at ease in front of the camera, especially if they feel nervous about having their photo taken. You go for a walk and have a chat, get to know each other a little, and occasionally we’ll stop for a few photos. There’s almost always a moment when I’ll have a flash of inspiration, get overexcited, and ask you to go and do something specific while I take a few photos, and I’ll almost certainly show you the results on the back of the camera afterwards. Which really helps my couples enjoy their engagement photoshoots more, knowing that they can trust me to capture some amazing photos. The results, as they say, speak for themselves.
Here are a handful of my favourite locations to consider going for an engagement photoshoot in the Lake District and Cumbria.
1. A Woodland Walk at White Moss Woods
White Moss Woods is the perfect start point for exploring around Rydal Water and Grasmere. It’s also only a short hike up to Rydal Cave and onto Loughrigg Terrace, both of which give you brilliant views and photoshoot locations. From the car park at White Moss you immediately walk out into woodland along the River Rothay as it snakes between Grasmere and Rydal Water, and from there you can easily get to either of the two lakes or head up towards the cave and Loughrigg Fell. The variety of backdrops and ease of accessibility are why it’s one of my favourite locations to meet couples for an engagement photoshoot.
There are two routes that I like to take during an engagement photoshoot at White Moss, and the first is to cross the river and follow the path to the shore of Grasmere. Along the way there are numerous opportunities for relaxed photos in the woods, by the riverbank, and along the footpath, including a quirky stone path two-thirds of the way along, finishing at the shore of Grasmere for lakeside photos. Then you cross a wooden bridge to the over side of the river and walk back through the woods and end up back where you started. There is plenty of variety to capture some brilliant photos of your couples on their engagement photoshoot.
The second route that I like to take is to head up away from the river after you’ve crossed over the first bridge towards Loughrigg and make your way to Rydal Cave. This is a bit more of a hike as you head up to the cave, but you are rewarded with some spectacular views over Rydal Water on the way. My top tip for this route is to arrange to be at Rydal Cave as early as possible. It’s a busy location during the day, and the earlier you get there, the more likely there won’t be anyone else there taking photos or jumping across the stepping stones at the cave’s entrance. After stopping for engagement photos at Rydal Cave, I then like to head back the way we came and follow the trail around onto Loughrigg Terrace overlooking Grasmere. The views are also great here, and it’s a great place to stop every now and then for photos before heading down through the woods to the shore of Grasmere for more photos. From there you then follow the same route, over the wooden bridge back to where you started.
It’s easy to get to White Moss Woods, and there is parking available, although it can get busy, so my advice is always to plan to meet early in the morning or early in the evening. It is a great location for any type of photoshoot.
2. A Spectacular View on Gummers How
Gummers How has the best views over the south of Windermere. It’s also easy to get to by car and then a hike from the car park to the summit. The hike can take a good 45 minutes, and so it’s a location that you’ll want to plan to spend a good couple of hours at for your engagement photoshoot. As you hike up there are plenty of interesting features, such as stone steps, to include in your photos, and the higher up you get, the more spectacular the view gets as you look across Windermere to the Cumbrian mountains. From the summit the walk back down is a lot quicker but no less breathtaking for the views and photo opportunities. Gummers How is quite simply an out-and-back walk from the car park to the summit. It’s almost perfect in its simplicity and is a brilliant location for an engagement photoshoot.
3. A Walk Around Buttermere
My top tip for a photo walk around Buttermere for your engagement photoshoot is to get there early or, during the summer months, in the evening. It gets very busy regardless of the time of year, but whatever the season, Buttermere is a beautiful location for a photoshoot. There’s a great route to follow from Sykes Farm down to the lakeshore, with the surrounding mountains always in the background for your engagement photos. From the lakeshore you can choose which way you would like to follow the trail around the lake, with both offering a beautiful setting for your engagement photos. There is ample woodland all the way around the lake, fields with drystone walls and long grass, and you’re never more than a few metres from the watersedge. If you time it right, you can sometimes get a beautiful reflection of the lake’s surface and gorgeous golden light creeping across the lake over Honister Pass. Buttermere is one of the most popular locations that my couples choose for their pre-wedding photoshoots and engagement photoshoots. I also get asked to photograph proposals at Buttermere and family photoshoots too. As a photographer Buttermere gives me the best of what the Lake District has to offer.
4. Cathedral Cave and the Spectacular Views at Blea Tarn
Cathedral Cave is around a 20-minute walk from Little Langdale in the South Lakes. Another popular location for people to visit, and an early morning or late afternoon/early evening visit is a better time of day for an engagement photoshoot. If you haven’t been to Cathedral Cave, it is truly spectacular! You enter the main cave along a corridor that has been cut into the rock and then enter a huge cavern with a big central column of rock and a striking opening above a rockfall on the left-hand side. The only light comes from the opening, and it can get very dark and atmospheric inside. It’s a different and very interesting location for an engagement photoshoot, which can look incredible in the photographs. Cathedral Cave is a great place to play with light and off-camera flash for a more dramatic-looking engagement photo. Outside the caves you’re only a short walk away from Slater’s Bridge, which is a picturesque rock and slate slab bridge. It is the uniqueness of Slater’s Bridge that makes it worth including as a location on your engagement photoshoot.
Blea Tarn is a short drive from Little Langdale, and it is sometimes possible to include both locations in a pre-wedding photoshoot. You get amazing views over Great Langdale and the Langdale Pikes that look like something out of Lord Of The Rings. It’s a beautiful and very accessible location from the nearby car park that makes for another great location for an engagement photoshoot.
5. Somewhere Special
If you have a favourite location, somewhere special you like to visit or have happy memories of, that can also make a brilliant location for your engagement photoshoot, or pre-wedding photoshoot. This might be a favourite walk, a historic location or even your wedding venue. It’s a chance to really explore what is special to you as a couple and to look for all of the photo opportunities your preferred location has to offer.
If you choose your wedding venue you can take advantage of some couple photos at a different time of year than your wedding day. For a favourite Lake District walk or hike, I’ll follow you and photograph you both enjoying an area that has so much meaning to you. Always remember that it is your engagement photoshoot and I’m just tagging along to photographing you both as a couple in love who are planning their wedding. I suppose that makes it sound all quite easy and if not here are my top tips for planning your engegment photoshoot.
How much does an engagement photoshoot in the Lake District Cost?
I include a pre-wedding photoshoot in a couple of my full-day wedding photography packages. If this isn’t included in the package that you have booked, I offer all of my wedding photography clients the opportunity to add a pre-wedding photoshoot at a discounted price.
If you would like to book an engagement photoshoot in the Lake District, but maybe you’re planning on getting married elsewhere or you’re visiting from overseas, then my prices start at £350 with the option to add more than one location should you choose. If you’re interested in booking an engagement photoshoot please get in touch eith a little bit of information about your plans and I can then provide you with more infromation about pricing and how to get booked in.
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How to Book an Engagement Photoshoot
Thank you for taking the time to read through my guide to Fantastic Locations for an Engagement Photoshoot in the Lake District. If you would like to get in touch to enquire about my availability and booking an engagment photoshoot, you can complete the contact form below, send me an email or send me a WhatsApp.
