We are a couple from Los Angeles and we picked Magdalena for such a wonderful experience in capturing our engagement photos. This is a review of our experience with Magdalena as she took our engagement photos at the Louvre during the winter time, and I would recommend reaching out to her.
We originally hoped to travel to Paris two years ago, but delayed our trip due to COVID. We had really high hopes to spend a magical time off. In the days leading up, our other engagement photos plans did not pan out and we wondered if we could take a chance and take engagement photos while we were on vacation. This was obviously a big decision for us that was a long time coming, so we were certainly quite nervous. This was also our first trip out of the US. Things that mattered to us were experience, safety, and expertise.
In our photographer search, we both independently looked through Instagram, yelp and google. In the days prior, it seemed unlikely we would find someone who met our criteria. While we had emailed several people, either the catalogs and examples all seemed very stock or failed to have the good close ups we wanted. By chance, we stumbled upon Magdalena's IG and we explored her website. I always recommend doing your homework and would suggest including her in your short list to see if her portfolio meets your interests.
I would recommend reading her background and talking to her about her life story. Really cool. She has over a decade of professional shooting that balances professional interior design and artistic shots of dancers. She fell in love with capturing the feeling of Paris and transitioned to shooting photography in France.
In the days leading up, she kept a very prompt and cheerful email thread. She did have an online payment system. We agreed to meet at a nearby café. She provided quotes by email correspondence.
On the day of the shoot, we met at the agreed upon area. Of course, my sim card chose that day to have connectivity issues and my text to her letting her know that we were late did not go through. She was still super gracious, and I really appreciated that as travelers exploring through the city. We chatted about our interests, and we got to know her. Magdalena is super personable and easy to get to know. I would definitely let her know upfront as I feel she is quite genuine in striving to tailor the experience. After some gauging our interests and hopes, she took us to the Louvre to begin.
Through the Louvre, she shows a graceful way with the camera. Composition seems to come easy to her and she varies her shots with close shots, medium shots and even the occasional super wide angle shots. I felt she both captured the romantic background we wanted that captured our lovely time in Paris. Given her background in photographing dancers, I also felt she is excellent at coaching dynamic shots and warmly coaching us through candids. She is not afraid to also say if she wanted us to do a retake or switch directions which I think is important. For me, I felt she does wonders to shoot the angles of the architecture of the Louvre. I do wish I had expressed that we wanted a lot of close ups, but luckily at the end she probably read our minds and she had a dedicated area. We started at around 8am in the winter. She was able to give good estimates of the weather and when we had started shooting the clouds had parted for the sun to emerge and we were able to avoid the crowds. She had a few more surprises for us that I'll leave out so that I hope you may enjoy it as well! We received our photos two week after as promised on a professional website that is password protected. The photos met the expectation promised by her background. There was a range of photos and close ups that encapsulated the magic of the morning that we shared during the shoot.
Critically, she also is very attentive to detail which we appreciated. Two examples are she knows where people walk and safe areas where we could tuck our stuff in our view and she stopped shooting when there were people walking near Carmen's bag when we were out in the open. As she is from Sweden and very comfortable speaking English but has lived in France for many years, I felt she brings a unique level of comfort that serves as an excellent guide. This may be a particular strength to pick for travelers from the U.S or English-speaking countries. It made correspondence quite easy and the session so seamless. As a traveler, I felt very safe with her as our guide as much as our photographer, which I appreciated as I try to plan experiences for my fiancé.
Safe, imaginative, professional and personable. Loved our time with Magdalena and it really made me feel as a traveler from the U.S. as quite welcome in Paris. Would definitely recommend! read more