Engagement Photography Tips

Every Sunday I will share easy photography tips for new photographers, busy bloggers, or those who just want to learn more about staging and styling photographs. I'll let the experts teach the technical stuff, but I'm teaming up with Mariah Meyer Photography to bring you ways to save money on your gear, easy ideas to take better photos, and simple styling tips. Today's topic is all about what to wear for family photographs!

Engagement sessions are a wonderful thing, a happy couple, newly engaged, getting ready for their big day. There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to engagement sessions and capturing the perfect images for your clients.

First up, sometimes the guys aren’t so into taking photos. They are doing it, but they might not be happy about it. Make sure to be continually interacting with the couple and making them feel comfortable, it’s your safest bet to getting authentic images.

Make sure that you capture the engagement ring. There are many ways to do this, from close-ups on the hands, to placing it on a tree branch or other floral area, get creative! If you have the couple set up in a way that you really like and displays the ring well, focus on the ring for a few shots, and then pull back getting some fuller shots, but still focusing on that ring.

The proposal location is ideal to take engagement photos if the location is accessible and photo worthy. If they got engaged at home, don’t assume you can’t do photos there! Lifestyle photos are so much fun and often time’s couples feel the most comfortable in their own home. If they got engaged at a local restaurant, try out some poses there, maybe outside on a bench, in the doorway showing the name of the restaurant. There are many ways to capture the location, and the couple will appreciate it.

Pets are a wonderful addition to engagement photos, especially if each of them have their own pet. Capture moments with their pets, as well as just the pets together. It can be fun with dogs to dress them up as a bride and groom, or have them wearing doggy t-shirts that say things “mom and dad are tying the knot!” Make the session fun with pets to the best of your ability, the couple will love incorporating them into the photos.

Interests are another thing to be sure that you capture throughout the session. If they enjoy boating, maybe try taking some photos at a marina? If they like camping, take photos out in the woods, quilted blankets make a great pop of color on the ground. Maybe they both enjoy running, try getting some photos on their favorite path to run on. Capturing those interests that are shared will make the photos more meaningful to the couple.

Catch them off-guard! While you are taking photos, tell them to do something specific like look at each other, take a moment to look at your camera, and if they begin talking, or looking at each other in a less posed manner, be sure to capture that. These are real moments, not posed, and those photos will mean more to a couple than ones where they are just looking at the camera or in a very stiff pose. Have them talk about what they ate for dinner, or where they are going to travel to next. It aids in getting genuine smiles and facial expressions.