Cameron and Lara wanted a Blue Mountains engagement session, and mid-autumn was the right call. The light out there in April and May has a softness, a beautiful quality, that simply works. And then the colour, when the sun starts dropping behind the escarpment, is something else entirely.

Lara used to call Sydney home, and Cameron comes from Perth, but they’re based in Brisbane now. It was a homecoming of sorts for Lara, but to turn right and head to the Mountains for the session.

We met late afternoon, knowing the sun would drop quickly, and that the temperature would drop, yet also looking forward to that post-sunset lingering light, even if it got a bit cold. We began simply, in a clearing, before wandering closer to some of the broad views, and then decided to change location.

We didn’t get to take advantage of one spot that I had in mind. The best laid plans were ruined by a social media influencer (and in this case their influence was indeed ruinous). Apparently they had filmed themselves doing some dangerous stuff and a lot of copycats had shown up throughout summer. The council took the correct decision to close the area, for a while, to the public.

Instead, we parked not far from the intended location and trekked through the bushland, while the sun sunk lower and lower. And in the end, as so often occurs when plans go askew, it might not have been the destination and view that we got, but the journey turned out to be pretty special anyway. Just one of those calm, quiet, still afternoons, broken only by the call of birds, spectacular light, and lovely local views rather than the big expanse of the valley. Pockets of late afternoon light that eventually gave way to that long-lasting glow.

Eventually we got to a bluff that showed the distant horizon, the oranges, reds and deep blues of the sunset sky made cleaner in the mountain air.

Without mentioning the specific names of the places, suffice to say that it’s at the top of the Blue Mountains, when things go wrong (as they inevitably do), rather than getting discouraged we can adjust on the fly. Things can change quickly and as annoying as it might be, it’s quite fun to see what transpires.

And the whole idea is for a couple to enjoy being together, and being entirely present with each other, because that’s the other magic.