Sunset Buckinghamshire engagement shoot at Brill Windmill
On the day I was meeting Cat and Caz up at Brill Windmill for our Buckinghamshire engagement shoot, I was pretty sure we’d have to cancel. It had rained all week in the run-up to out engagement shoot and as I drove to Brill, the rain was virtually torrential.
Incredibly, as I sat in that muddy car park waiting for the girls to arrive, the clouds suddenly parted and the sunshine appeared.
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow | Buckinghamshire engagement shoot
Turns out it wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but a pub, which may be the same thing for some people. Anyway, not the ideal backdrop for a photo but needs-must whenever there’s a rainbow – and this was my first pic on the shoot.
I met Cat and Caz a few months ago at a wedding fair. They’re getting married at Notley Abbey in a couple of years’ time.
When we talked about doing an engagement shoot, I hadn’t fully appreciated the significance of Brill Windmill. Apparently, it’s where they got officially engaged; they had a romantic proposal during a summer meteor storm.
One of Buckinghamshire’s earliest examples of a post windmill
Despite living half my life in Buckinghamshire, this was only my second visit to Brill Windmill; and I still haven’t seen inside, although I hear it opens once a week during the summer months.
Brill Windmill is set on the top of a hill in the pretty village of Brill in West Buckinghamshire. According to historians, it’s one of the earliest and best-preserved examples of a post windmill in existence. I don’t actually know what a ‘post windmill’ is but I do know that some of the original timbers are believed to date from the 1600s.
The windmill itself occupies a fairly small plot with the land immediately in front of the mill fenced off for cattle grazing. In the second photo above, you can just make out the green electric cattle wire.
I don’t think this has always been the case but from a photography perspective, the current (no pun intended) proximity of the fence to the windmill does make it quite difficult to capture the front elevation in a portrait.
I did see some local people duck under the cattle wire and take a short cut through the grazing area.
I decided not to follow and in the end, we found a less distorted view of the windmill by walking to the bottom of the cattle enclosure and looking back up the hill.
Continuing along the pathway where I took the pic above, you reach a small gated farm entrance with a pretty overhanging tree and some lovely views across the hills.
In autumn, it can be difficult to rely on the weather but when the sun does come out, particularly later in the day, you can capture some really pleasing natural light portraits. Albeit, that the next photo I’m showing you here uses flash. The second one doesn’t.
For the last part of our Buckinghamshire engagement shoot, we made our way back along the bottom path and up the lane towards the windmill. The windmill faces west, and so did I for this next photo of the girls taken on the lane.
For my final few photos, we returned to Brill Windmill to capture this golden hour silhouette of Caz and Cat and a tighter portrait at the same spot.
When it comes to locations for a Buckinghamshire engagement shoot, Brill Windmill is right up there with the best in terms of romance; it’s a beautiful building surrounded by wonderful countryside with far-reaching views.
Where it’s not going to be so great is if you like the idea of more candid and playful engagement photos. For docu-type photography, a funfair, carnival or some kind of recreational activity is probably going to be a much better option. Here are a few suggestions to help you figure it all out.
Deciding what you want from your Buckinghamshire engagement shoot
Given the option of having an engagement or pre-wedding shoot, most of us have no idea what to expect and even less idea of what we want. This is where creating a mood board in a free app like Pinterest can really help to formulate some ideas about what you like (and don’t like) and how you want to be portrayed by your photographer.
A simple search in Pinterest like “engagement shoot ideas” will bring up hundreds of images and ideas to start creating your board.
Once you’ve created a board – which takes two seconds btw – and saved a load of photos (that takes a few seconds longer), go through them again and get rid of any you can’t quite see yourself in.
When you’ve got a set you quite like, start noticing the locations where the photos were taken.
What kind of locations are they mostly shot in? Are there any recurring themes, like historic buildings, entertainment centres, woodlands, countryside, city locations, pets, etc?
Like Cat and Caz’s Buckinghamshire engagement shoot at Brill Windmill, most couples have a special location they share.
In my experience, this is more likely to be a romantic intimate setting rather than a public location with many other people but if you actually prefer a more candid, playful style of photography creating a Pinterest mood board will help you to confirm that, although it may eliminate any romantic settings.
Just as an aside, I’m equally happy photographing a couple being tourists for a day in a city centre, or taking rides together at a fun fair, as I would be doing a romantic Buckinghamshire engagement shoot at Brill Windmill.
But enough of me. Back to that mood board for a few final words.
When you’re looking at your mood board ideas, it’s also good to look at the style of photography you find appealing. For example, how do the couples engage with each other in the photos you like best? It may be that the photos you like best don’t have the couple looking at the camera at all – only at each other or off into the distance.
When it comes to photography, whatever you prefer is the right style of photography for you. However, if you’re pushing yourself down the candid route because you’re anxious about being photographed, follow some of my tips for getting over photo anxiety before you make your final decision.
Here’s another blog you might find useful for more ideas on choosing locations for your engagement shoot.
Where to park for Brill Windmill
If you fancy a Buckinghamshire engagement shoot in Brill, it’s worth knowing where to park.
There’s a small free car park next to the windmill. During the week, it’s easy to park but at the weekend, it gets very full as there’s a pub and B&B right next to the car park.
In addition, a lot of the properties close to the windmill don’t have driveways so you’ll be competing for street parking with the locals as well as windmill visitors.
If you don’t mind a short walk, you’ll find more street parking on the High Street; this wasn’t quite as packed as near the windmill and wider so worth a look if there’s no space in the car park or immediate vicinity.
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