Hello Spring!
As the warmer weather approaches, with it comes the beautiful wedding and engagement season! I am so excited to share a few tips I have put together to help you have the best photography session experience. At the end of your session your photos will be the most cherished, as they will have documented you both in this moment exactly as you are right now.
Our job as creatives is to capture you being the most beautiful version of yourself. Your most beautiful to me means photographing you both genuinely happy and relaxed. I am in love with documenting couples in the middle of their laughs, awesome quirks, and most beloved moments, and I want you to be ready for all of them.
The below tips have helped me prepare my amazing couples for an incredible day ahead. Here are seven tips to an amazing engagement, couples or family session, and I am so excited to share these with you!
- Look for the photos you love. When you’ve booked your session, I’d love for you to take a peek at my work, as well as any other images that speak to you. We’ll talk about the images and what you love most about them, and how they make you feel. This gives me a great idea of what my clients vision is for their day, what means most to them when I’m photographing them, and what they can expect from their photos.
- What to wear? Answering this question for my couples always comes easily; wear something that you love and something that simply makes you feel amazing! People completely shine from within when they feel confident, so wear the clothes that make you feel your best! If its a beautiful flowing dress, with your hubby to be dressed up beside you – do it up! And if jean shorts and a tee make you feel like dancing, go for it! Keep the colours of the outfits you both wear complimentary to each other, and appropriate for the vibe you’d love out of your photos; if you need a place to begin, neutrals and earthy tones always photograph so beautifully in any setting and tend to make photos feel warm and inviting.
- Feel your best. Ensuring your relaxed and ready for your session will help you feel just so good. If you’re having your makeup and hair done for your wedding day, think about scheduling your trials on the day of your engagement photos. If you’re a no makeup or do it yourself kind of couple, that is so awesome too! Do anything that day that makes you feel your best; if its a yoga class or meditation, a walk with your favourite person or a visit to your favourite ice cream shop, go out and do it! It will relax you and help you feel like yourself, and go into your session with a calm mind. A mini heads up that I may ask you to go barefoot if it suits your session, or close ups of your ring and hands, or during your photos. Making sure your nails, feet or hands are taken care of the way you love them can be awesome! If you paint your nails, pick a colour that radiates you, and get those babies ready for their close up.
- Food. Having something amazing and energizing to eat before your photos ensures you can relax and enjoy the next part of your day. You can make a day of your engagement session, and spend some extra quality time with your love beforehand. Hang out at an awesome restaurant, grab a bite of some amazing food, loosen up and relax together. Guaranteed you will show up to your photos calm, with full bellies and full of love.
- Light. Photographers love playing around with light. Having the light of the day on our side is one of the most important aspects of a shoot. We are on the sun’s time, so arriving a bit early can be great for both you and your photographer. Remember, the light dictates how your photos will feel. I try to schedule most of my sessions in the two hours prior to sunset, or if you’re down to get up in the wee hours, sunrise as well! I’ve had sessions take place early in the a.m just as the sun is rising, and in the late afternoon, as the sun dips below the horizon into the dreamiest twilight. I truly believe these are the best and most beautiful times of day for the loveliest images. *Shooting into the night can make for some unreal results as well if you’re game for some unique images and have a bit of patience. If you’re well enough out of the city, those stars can come out to play and create some of the most romantic of photos to end your session!
- Location. Find a place that is completely you! Your session should really mean something to you. When you look back on your photos, we want you to fall in love with them all over again and remember how unreal the day was. It might be exploring a forest, a cafe or restaurant you usually visit together, at the cottage where you spent your summers, or taking a swim at the beach as the sun is going down. Do you guys love to snowboard? Do you surf, boat, or do yoga together? Take your photographer with you and document that. I am totally in to capture it all. If you get stuck on locations, ask your photographer for some suggestions – most of us keep a pretty awesome list, and it is truly one of my favourite parts finding amazing places to take you!
- FUN. Have a ton of it and don’t hold back – make it magical. The best photos I’ve taken have been those of couples laughing, tickling, doing everything that makes each other smile, and being simply themselves. Remember we have seen it all, we are professionals, and probably hella goofy ourselves so please don’t be afraid to let the real you out! If you are outgoing as hell and have so much fun together, let loose; I truly love it so much. If you love to dance together, or are more of the intimate cuddler, do just that. Our goal for the day is to get the genuine you to shine, and get those smiles and laughs out of you. Document those genuine, natural moments that make you just who you are together, and make your photo experience the most amazing one possible and one you will remember always.
The Experience
We play music, we ask you awesome questions about one another, we will tell you to dance in the kitchen, tickle whoever is the most ticklish, get your feet wet, or run barefoot through the grass; and then sometimes we will ask you to get quiet and calm. We will ask you to take moment to yourselves and simply enjoy where you are right now, we will walk away and just let you be. We will ask you to cozy in the closest you possibly can, and then stand apart to simply observe one another. We will get in close for those more intimate photographs, and walk away a bit further to show the vastness of where you are. We do it all, and love it simply so much. If there is anything you’d love for your session, or any tips you have for me; what you love and what you may not, please do let me know. I’m here to make this about you and document all that you are as the most incredible and beautifully complex human beings.
The biggest thing to remember for your photos is have the best time with them; who you are will completely shine through if you let loose, have fun, and just be who you are! We as professionals completely understand how being in front of the camera may be a bit nervewracking, but I am here to help and guide you through your photos, and to make you feel as comfortable as I possibly can! With the gorgeous warm weather and the outdoor photo season around the corner, I am so excited to explore some unreal places with my couples and learn so much about who they are. Have an amazing start to your weekend, get out there and adventure somewhere awesome!
Interested in booking a portrait session or learning more?
Get in touch! I would love to meet you.
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