patrick + ida | rocky coastal beach engagement session | oahu, hawaii adventurous destination photographer

Patrick and Ida huge lovers of traveling, (a couple after my own heart!) and out of all the places in the world they are big time Hawaii fans. For the past three years they’ve visited the islands twice a year. So it only made sense that earlier this year while exploring the Napali Coastline in Kauai, that Patrick would surprise Ida by proposing by a waterfall. She was completely caught off guard, but she happily said YES.

A couple months later, they came back to the islands for a friend’s wedding in Oahu, giving us the perfect excuse to do their engagement session while they were in their favourite place on earth. I met up with Patrick and Ida at Sandy Beach Park where we immediately started talking like long lost friends, even though I’d only known them for a few minutes. They told me all about how they met at a Color Run, fell in love, and are planning their tropical themed wedding for next June… Can you guess where it is? Yup. Hawaii. 😉

Before we started shooting, Ida mentioned that she and Patrick were super nervous and not good at posing at all. I told them not to worry, that I would give them prompts and direction as needed. Once we started, I think they were having so much fun they completely forgot they didn’t know how to “pose.” These two are total cuddle bugs, and every direction I gave them, they somehow ended up wrapped in each other’s arms. MY FAVORITE.

We ended the session by going to another rocky coastline location that I had scouted a few days prior. I knew that location would have a stunning sunset, but I had NO idea for what we were in store for once we got there. When we arrived I was a bit disheartened, because where there should have been a sunset, there were only clouds blocking the sun. Even though I was a bit bummed, we continued on. A few minutes later into posing them, suddenly the sky started spreading with this bright, vibrant orange/pink glow that made our jaws drop. Turns out the clouds did us a favor. I literally couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was the best sunset I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life, and it felt like it was a gift just for us in that moment. I started posing these two like crazy, playing and frolicking on the rocks with the miracle light behind us. When you see those photos in this post, know that I didn’t oversaturate the colors. That is ACTUALLY what the sun looked like, and I edited it as close to what we saw with our eyes as possible. It was absolutely UNREAL.

Thank you Patrick and Ida for trusting me to photograph your beautiful love story. Thank you for inviting me along on your Hawaiian adventure. I cannot wait to photograph your wedding next summer on the North Shore. You guys are the kind of clients and friends that make me absolutely LOVE this job. Thank you.

Want to book your own adventurous Hawaiian couple session with me? Hit me up HERE and let’s make some magic together!

Lindsey Roman is an adventurous, destination wedding and intimate elopement photographer based out of Oahu, Hawaii and available worldwide. She lives for outdoor adventures, intimate moments, and candid images. Her style is raw, passionate, and authentic. She believes in chasing sunsets, laughing too hard, and most importantly: capturing genuine moments that evoke feeling over perfectly posed photographs.