Today’s blog is going to be short and sweet – 5 Steps to Making the Most of Your Engagement Pictures

1. Coordinate, Don’t Match
I say this a lot to clients, but I feel like it can be confusing. Matching is like those family photos where everyone is in a white shirt and khaki’s. Eek. That is what we are trying to avoid. Coordinating means making sure that you aren’t wearing conflicting patterns (i.e. plaid and stripes), making sure you are both dressed equally as nice (i.e. if you are wearing a fancy dress, he probably wants to wear a button up with a tie), and considering your color choices (i.e. Don’t wear orange if he is set on wearing red). Also, consider your outfit for the scenery. If you are planning on having your pictures taken in a field somewhere, a flowing dress seems really appropriate, whereas a leather jacket wouldn’t be. When you are picking your location, consider your style, and so the pictures look cohesive!
Chelsea and Brad did a great job of dressing for their location

And I loved how Justine + Matt chose colors that were really great for the camera

2. Pick Your Location
For me, the engagement session is about getting to know the two of you. I love it when a client comes to me with an idea for their engagement session because it fits their personalities. If you two are foodies, let’s go to a cute ice cream shop and take pictures. If you are both outdoorsy, let’s make a campfire and take pictures around it. If your first date was to a park, lets go back there to take your pictures there. Finding someplace that is special for the two of you is most important, because we can find beauty anywhere for the pictures.
Katlyn + Clint decided to go back to the festival where they first met! We had so much fun with their festival themed engagement shoot and it was really personal to the two of them!

3. Don’t tan
This is true for any session – The camera does NOT photograph tanning well. It doesn’t matter if you have been going to the tanning bed, used self tanner, or just sat out by a pool in preparation for you session, you are running the risk of looking orange in your photographs.

4. Use those Trial Runs
Similarly to tanning, make up can photograph much differently than the eye sees it. I totally recommend using your trial runs on the day of engagement sessions to double check that you will look the way you want to in your wedding pictures! Plus it’s one less thing for you to worry about, and who doesn’t love an excuse to get dolled up!?

5. Relax and Have Fun!
I want you two to be yourselves. I want you to enjoy this process. I want you to feel beautiful and confident. Sometimes, things might feel silly, but it’s okay to let your guard down and commit to getting the type of photos that you have always wanted. The more fun you allow yourself to have, the more you are going to identify with your images.