The Pickering Waterfront is one of my favourite spots for engagement photos in Durham Region. The combination of a marina, village that looks like it came straight out of an East Coast Hallmark movie, fairly expansive beach, a pier that you walk on and my favourite, direct views of the sunset. It's also easy to get to, has plenty of FREE parking and a number of cool spots to grab a snack, a cup of coffee or a cone of ice cream after the shoot.
There are a few downsides to this location. For one, on the East side there's Pickering Nuclear... to be fair that's never an issue as I almost always shoot towards the sunset and you quickly forget that it's there. The other issue is that it gets busy; like Costco on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend kind of busy. Although you can still navigate the location on a nice, warm weekend evening (like the photos below) I always advise to schedule the shoot on a weeknight. It's much less busy and much easier to pretend and make it seem like you're on some sort of tropical beach and not in Durham Region.
Although these photos were taken on a weekend Agata and Igor were champs and didn't really care much for the crowds. We did manage to find a few quiet spots and even met a friendly otter who also wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the main area.