Engagement Photography Tips

We love photographing engagement sessions… It’s a great way to create beautiful images while getting to know our couples before the wedding. They also help our couples get more comfortable with being photographed. That’s why all our wedding collections include one. We like going to places that have special meaning to our couples. Maybe it’s where they met or where they got engaged. San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Lake Arrowhead, Disney Hall, Urban lights, the beaches of Orange County and Santa Monica, Old Town Orange, Pasadena a woodsy park, etc. These are just some of the places our clients have taken us.

If you’re about to have an engagement session, here are some suggestions:

Clothing:

Colors: The most important thing to remember is for you both to wear colors that are similar in density, like dark colors with dark colors and light colors with light colors. For instance, if you are both wearing medium blue jeans, make sure your tops are either both darker OR lighter. We think it looks better than one person wearing a light color and the other in a dark color. It helps the eye go directly to your faces, instead of first going to the lightest part of the image or the area of most contrast when viewing your images.

Prints: Solids work best, but if you want to wear prints, try to keep them subtle. We like your faces to be the main focus, not the bold pattern or plaid you are wearing.

Makeup and Hair: Do your makeup a little heavier than normal, as if you were going out to a fancy party. The camera ignores about 30% of your makeup so keep that in mind. Here is a link for more tips: Makeup Tips For Professional Photos. For hair, remember we are going to be outside, so there might be a breeze. Make sure your hairstyle can work with the weather. If you already have professional makeup services booked for your wedding, consider making a separate appointment for hair and makeup with your makeup artist for your engagement session. This way, you’ll not only look great, you will have an opportunity to see how the makeup photographs and get comfortable with your artist.

Pets: If you want to bring your dog along, that’s great! Just have a friend come along so they can hold the leash when we create the images without your four legged friend.

Props and  Changes of Outfit: Props are great! Please be sure to discuss your ideas with us before the shoot. A little planning before, makes for a great shoot later. Some clients bring multiple outfits because they are not sure what to wear. We are happy to meet with you when we arrive to our location so we can give you our opinion as to what will work best. We will move to many locations, so the less amount of things you have in tow the better. If you plan to bring props and different outfits, bringing that friend along to lend a hand is a great idea… Maybe your Maid of Honor? You can buy her dinner after the session.

What to expect after your engagement session; The viewing and purchasing appointment: As you know, we treat your engagement photo session as a custom portrait session, but with the lower “wedding reprint prices”. We include a credit you can use to purchase products from your session. The credit amount varies depending on the Wedding Collection you chose. You can use this credit for digital files, save-the-date cards, photo enlargements, sign in books, canvasses, framed prints, etc. When your fabulous images are ready, we will make an appointment for you to come in to view the images and choose how you want to use your credit. We have three special engagement collections to choose from including one that is completely customizable. One collection even includes all the corrected full size JPGS from your session. These discounted collections are only available on your viewing appointment. During this meeting, you will decide how you want to use your credit and, of course, you can add any other products you need. If you live out of town, we can work online to create your memorable engagement session products. The next business day, after you’ve made your selections and purchases, your complete, password protected, online gallery will go live and and you will be able to share it with family and friends. This way, you will be able to approve all the images that go online.

Scroll down to get ideas for locations and clothing. At the very end, we have custom “Save The Date” examples that include engagement session images:

TilleyEng_129_RTilleyEng_112_RBarnet-Photography-Santa-Monica-Engagement-Session_08

nydouble11nydouble2084_melsomenydouble6154e-ts_chene172-Viceroy-Eng_057_R

41-Barnet-UCLA-WuEng_224_R68-Park-Eng_081_R65-Park-Eng_104_R63-Park-Eng_045_R62-BezzEng_108_R

RedfernEng_130_RMalikEng_116_R

Custom designed and printed “Save the Date” cards (front and back). Printed envelopes included.Array

02-Back

03-Final-Front04-Final-Back_105-Final-Front2

Array