What to do on the Day of your engagement portraits

It’s always a little intimidating to have your pictures taken, even if it’s just a photo and an iPhone that was taken by a friend. We want to look nice, make sure nothing is in our teeth and our hair is behaving. I realize the preparing for an engagement session can be a little overwhelming. Over the next few weeks I’ll be providing tips for outfits, handling nerves and recommendations that will make your shoot the best it can possibly be.

One of my favorite parts of my job is taking something so ordinary and making it look absolutely amazing. This happens more often than you think when it comes to picking portrait locations! If there is one thing that I love and appreciate about my couples, if they trust us! Sometimes I select portrait locations that most people wouldn’t consider attractive.

For example the image on the right was taken on the side of a road with cars, houses and barns in the background. I photographed at a different angle,, because the light was just perfect. There was nothing special about this place. It was an open area seemingly simple from everyone else’s point of view except mine. However, because my couple trusted me and they were willing to pose in this spot, they now have the most amazing portraits! So my encouragement is just trust us! You don’t have to worry about a thing! Trust our location and I promise you you’ll love the results.

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THE BASICS + WHAT TO BRING

POCKETS - Empty your pockets! Literally. You don’t want to have keychains our phones showing through your pockets. (This is for the guys especially!)

TIMING - The sunsets quickly, especially if your shoot is not in the summer months. The later you arrive, the less time we have a shoot once the sun is set the shoot will be over.

RING CLEANING - Clean the ring!I love to shoot a few ring shots while you’re changing outfits. The cleaner the better!

CHANGING CLOTHES - As much as I would like to say that we always have restrooms for outfit changes, more often than not, our clients do a quick outfit change in the car if there are no other options.

DEEP BREATHS - I’m going to help you along the way and it’s going to be a blast! Enjoy this time together and make a day out of it. Plan dinner afterwards and celebrate

We photograph engagement sessions on weekday evenings because our weekends are dedicated to photographing weddings. We love shooting at gorgeous locations. We recommend two locations max for engagements. A general rule of thumb is the more locations and outfits, the less images but more variety!

We can do a sunrise shoot, if necessary! Sometimes a sunrise shoot is necessary when couples only have free time in the mornings before work, this works just fine! We also love to travel to our shoots! We’ve done shoots at sand dunes before! However, if we have never been to your location before, we may need some advice on where to park.