Ever since visiting Zealandia when my husband Ben and I first arrived in New Zealand, I wanted to photograph a couple there. Luckily Helena and Jordan live close by and wanted some engagement photos that reflected their interest in conservation. Perfect!
These guys are super lovely, cheeky and relaxed. Helena is in the final stages of post-graduate study to become a teacher. She specialises in art and English. We had great conversations about expressing yourself through art and different styles of painting. Jordan is a blues musician and sewage engineer (great combo!). We enjoyed hearing Jordan telling us the history of the dam, that it once was the only supply of drinking water for Wellington.
We also connected through shared philosophies of eco friendliness. Helena and Jordan are now, after many months, living plastic free. They say it's harder than you think as many every day items come wrapped in plastic (like meat and veg), in plastic bottles (like shampoo and body wash), or with plastic packaging (like bags of lollies and biscuits). Congratulations!
Helena and Jordan have been together 5 years and there's no rush to have their wedding. They are in the early stages of wedding planning and are considering different outdoor wedding venues in the Wellington region, including Zealandia.
For their engagement photo session, we grabbed a map and went exploring. Zealandia is the world's first fully fenced ecosanctury in the urban suburbs of Wellington. It is dedicated to restoring the native forest to it's former glory, as a haven for native birds and wildlife. Their website says "The 225 hectare ecosanctuary is a groundbreaking conservation project that has reintroduced 18 species of native wildlife back into the area, 6 of which were previously absent from mainland New Zealand for over 100 years.".
We took great delight seeing in seeing a happy family of California quail, mum and dad herding their tiny chicks through the grass and along the path. We also spotted Kaka, Tui, Hihi and one of my favourites, Saddleback. We adventured throughout the reserve, across the suspension bridge, along the dam wall, and up watch tower. We meandered back through the native forest through the golden morning light to the visitor centre.
Many thanks to Zealandia for allowing us to photograph in the stunning reserve.
I hope you enjoy their photos as much as we enjoyed taking them! If you would like to talk about your own Lucalia Photography adventure engagement portraits, please do get in contact.
I hope you enjoy their photos as much as we enjoyed taking them! If you would like to talk about your own Lucalia Photography adventure engagement portraits, please do get in contact.