Couples photography Marta & Dinis at Gulbenkian Gardens, LIsbon

Fast-forward a few days, and we're meeting at Gulbenkian Gardens. Not the tourist-loud version of Lisbon, but the kind where the air feels cooler, the leaves muffle the city noise, and every turn hides a bench or an archway that begs to be photographed. They chose it because it's their spot – somewhere they've wandered before, not some random "pretty place" off Google.

They came with zero expectations. No Pinterest boards, no "we want this exact pose." Just… curiosity. And that's perfect, because the best sessions are basically long walks where the camera tags along. We wandered under green tunnels of leaves, stopped whenever the light did something interesting – like that moment when the sun dropped low and sliced through the branches, lighting up Marta's hair like it was on purpose.

They weren't stiff. Actually, scratch that – at first, there was a little stiffness (there always is). But five minutes in, something switched. Dinis leaned in closer without me telling him to. Marta's laugh stopped being the polite "ha-ha" and turned into the one that crinkles her nose. I barely said anything after that, just moved quietly and caught the in-between moments.

By the end, they told me it felt easy. Light. Like they'd just gone for a walk and somehow ended up with a hundred tiny memories in their pocket. That's when I know it worked – when the photos are just proof of a good afternoon, not the reason for it.