Waimea Bay Family Engagement Photography

Family sessions are even better when they involve an engagement. For this session on the North Shore of Oahu at Waimea Bay, we went along the shoreline to delve into a family session that turned into a down on one knee moment, perfectly planned of course.

Waimea Bay is directly across from Waimea Valley. I highly recommend visiting Waimea Valley for their gardens and waterfall. Waimea Bay features a wide beach with plenty of space and depending on the time of year - Waimea Bay can be flat during the summer and highly rated for snorkeling OR during the winter it can be a big wave viewpoint, with professional big wave surfers riding the faces of 40 foot waves on big North Shore surf days. Either way, Waimea Bay is a year round destination for it’s features and backdrop for imagery.

What I love about Waimea Bay is the variety. We can dabble near the water on a calm day, take imagery on the sand, as well as utilize the greenery and river backdrop. If you want both a river and the ocean on Oahu this is your spot. In fact, during the winter you can see river surfing on days where the surfers and county open up the river for draining after rainy days.

Where can you park at Waimea Bay? On some days at Waimea Valley and Waimea Bay parking can be hard to come by. I recommend first checking the parking lot at Waimea Bay and then if it is full either going to the three tables beach parking towards Foodland. The walk from Three Tables to Waimea Bay is about 10 minutes. Sometimes pay parking is available at the white church before you reach Three Tables for a donation. If you pass Waimea Bay heading toward Haleiwa town, I recommend also checking for parking along the side of the road parking overlooking the bay. There are trails leading down to Waimea or you can follow the guard rails down the Waimea Bay.

The big question is how to ask the question? Quite the question, eh? There’s no wrong way to do so. We can plan out a Notebook worthy moment or just have a cue for when the moment is right.

In this case, we started by her knowing that he had scheduled a Hawaii family photography session. The two kids had helped pick out the ring but didn’t know that this would be the exact moment. Everyone dressed in white for the family session and planned to get a little bit wet.

I had the standard group photos and then asked to do some imagery of her with the two kids while he went behind and got down on one knee. As soon as he was ready, he started talking to her from behind and gave her a tap on the shoulder.

She was so suprised and nodded yes while crying tears of joy. A special and surreal moment for the family, knowing that they will be finally together as a family in a new forever union. Not every engagement is traditional; in fact, they are all distinguished in there own way.

I encourage you to make your engagement special. Plan out the details to make it a special engagement with details that matter to you. Hawaii is such a stunning place to get engaged as well as have family photos.

I’d love to help you plan your Oahu Family Session or Hawaii Engagement Session. Reach out to plan your session!