Below are a few tips (with photos) of ways to get great engagement photos!
1) Photographer!
It seems so obvious, but if you want good photos, you have to start with a good photographer! Don’t use a friend unless they are a photographer (i.e., they are paid to be a photographer). We are photographers for a reason! There is more to it than just pushing the button! We not only know great locations, we also know the laws (e.g., no photographs on the train tracks, its not only illegal but it’s dangerous, too!). You also want to be sure your photographer can handle the light for the time of day your session is scheduled (more information on that is below). A few weeks ago I had a session that lasted 2.5 hours, and the session went from sunset to pitch dark. I rocked it. The night photographs were so cool – I wish more of my clients would do it!
2) Clothing choices.
Use Pinterest, that’s a link to my current Pinterest board for what to wear to an engagement photo session). You can also look in a magazine, but whatever you do, don’t just wear “any old thing”. I tell my clients to dress “work casual”. This means solid colors, no text, no t-shirts, no patterns, and definitely no stripes! The reason for this this is that sometimes stripes and patterns create optical illusions when you look at the image. It will start to drive you crazy and it will also take your eyes away from the main subject of the photo. Lets face it: You and your significant other are not twins, so don’t dress like you are. We also don’t want khakis and white shirts – we want color! If you wear black, put him in a nice complimentary color. If you wear a pastel, put him in a color that matches. Some great combinations are pink/brown or blue/brown. We all know what colors look good on us – ,make those work for you! Have a fancy dress you haven’t had a chance to wear? Throw it on! The more fabulous you look, the more fabulous your photos will look! Below are some of my favorite girl outfits for an engagement photo. I know, she broke one of the rules by wearing polka dots, but it worked. This bride was also going for a certain vintage look for her engagement photos, so this dress was dead on!
4) Location Location Location! Again, this seems so obvious. When a client approaches me to do a shoot, my first question is “where do you want to shoot?”. Sure, your photographer knows some great spots that they love to shoot, but what locations are special to both of you? Do you have a special beach where he proposed? Do you like to hike? Are you city people? If you can’t decide on a location, a great photographer can then help guide you to spots where there is great light that are also perfect for the style you are looking for. It also helps to know if you have a theme to your wedding as the theme can be incorporated into your engagement photos. I am often asked to do engagement sessions on the train tracks. Although they make for a really great location, it’s against the law. (For those who are curious as to why, it’s federal trespassing and punishable by a $500 fine or three years in jail. It’s also very dangerous.)
Quick example of the above: When I did a prior engagement session, we went to tracks that were considered “old” that ran over a river. I was assured by the couple that trains never rode on the tracks as the tracks were abandoned. We shot the session without incident and left. A few days later, believing I dropped something on the tracks, I went back to the location of our session. As I walked up and down the tracks, looking at the ground for my lost item, I heard a train whistle. Breaking from my concentration on trying to find the lost item, I looked up to see a train coming right at me. I only had enough time to take two steps sideways before the train went zipping by.
I walked away vowing to tell everyone that story. You do not hear the train coming, even when it is on the tracks for a full minute (like my story). It wasn’t until a week later that I found there are laws against being on train tracks. So as cool as the below train track photo is, I’ll never do it again!
5) Time of day! Is it fall you’re looking for? Do you want to capture the leaves changing colors and the crisp feel of the air? Is your fiancé a football fan? I have had a lot of clients cancel Sunday sessions with me for the Patriots. It’s very frustrating for the bride to get so excited to only discover there is a sports game she can’t pull her fiancé away. It frustrates the bride even more when she is able to pull him away from the TV only to have him be grumpy the entire session. Even more to that point, I’ve seen clients get upset when they are DVRing the game only to have someone walk by and say “Tie game! The Patriots are on the 3 yard line with 30 seconds left in the game and if they make this… they go to the Super Bowl of Puppies!” (Well, you get the point.) In other words: If your fiancé is a football fan, don’t schedule your session when his team plays!
6) Lighting This goes hand-in-hand with my advice regarding the time of day. My years of experience have equipped me with the talent to handle any time of day you throw at me. High noon? Bring it on! A sunset setting shooting right into the sun? No problem. Cloudy or a rainy day? Sure! I’m not a fan of really cloudy, rainy days; however, will venture out for my clients with that artsy flair. I love light! Give me all the light you can! I typically advise my clients to do their shoot 2 hours before sunset. That way they will have that sweet, soft light that doesn’t cast the subjects with harsh shadows. I did a sunset engagement session in Boston a few weeks ago, and we got some cool, dark sky-line photos. We started off with a soft sun between the buildings and ended with a beautifully lit-up city.
Also, a photographer knowledgeable in the correct use of light will help you have great photos…even if you don’t have the best background!
7. Love
What? You have to love your significant other? YES! If you and your fiancé are annoyed with one another, your photos will reflect. I can’t advise you enough that, if you have a big fight with your fiancé the day of your scheduled session, cancel it! Don’t waste your time having photos that will only commemorate your angry fight. No one wants pictures that will forever be a reminder of how mad they were when their fiancé forgot to feed the fish and it died. We aren’t all perfect, and we are all allowed to have an off day; however, you don’t want to capture that day forever. Trust me, you’ll look at those pictures and remember how you felt on that day. When you and your fiancé are in love and overjoyed with each other, it really shows.
8. Leave the hang ups at home!!!
Do not go to your session thinking you look fat or that your fiancé’s hair is all wrong. Neither of you are models…so let your photos show people who you really are! The more you try and mold yourselves into someone you are not, the less genuine the photos will look. Let the photographer know you think your good side is on the right or that your fiancé looks like a fish when he kisses you! If you warn your photographer of those things, they can adjust their approach accordingly and your photos will be that much better!
9. Communicate with your photographer
Hate your wandering eye? Do you have a cowlick that drives you crazy? Tell us! We need to know so we can either shoot to make it less obvious or fix it in the post processing. Don’t get me wrong, we won’t be doing any digital liposuction on you to make you Britney Spears skinnny. However, we can take out a cowlick. If you hate the shade of your lipstick, don’t assume the photographer will change the shade for you. It’s not that we can’t make these changes (we definitely can); however, it’s a lot of work and typically comes at an extra cost. (I charge $75.00 for that kind of work.) That type of work is not part of the package!
10. HAVE FUN!
You are going to be out in public with a photographer, a huge camera, a bag of gear, and possibly a lightstand, softbox or umbrella. It’s a bit of a scene, and can be a bit embarrassing if you’re on the shy side – but it’s FUN! I can’t tell you how many guys come to the engagement session grumbling and complaining they have to do it, and by the end of the session, they are looking for the light and setting up the poses. For those grumbling fiancé’s, I promise them a beer at the end of the session if they don’t have fun. I haven’t bought a beer yet! The guys actually have more fun than the girls sometimes. I also tell my clients, if all else fails, make it look like you are doing official work. When people stop and say, “Congratulations!”, just reply “oh, this is only for the cover of a magazine…” If you ever need to back that story up, I can always put you on the cover of my magazine. It’s just a thought…
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