How to Prepare for your Engagement Session
You may notice that this time of year… there are a lot of people getting engaged. Between the Holidays and February Valentines Day, people say “Yes” left and right. According to some quick two-minute google searches about 40% of proposals happen between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day. That’s a lot. And if you are newly (or not newly) engaged you probably are thinking about booking an engagement session soon. And I know from my own experience I felt a little lost on how to prepare for my engagement session.
The first thing I recommend is to know when your wedding date will be, I say this because you probably want your photos back for when you need to send your save the dates/invites. It is recommended you send those 4-6 months in advance so you probably want to take your pictures a year to 8 months in advance to give yourself time to get your images back, gather addresses and get those save-the-dates mailed.
The next thing when thinking about your engagement session is to create a Pinterest board or Instagram folder of other couple’s photos you like that you could share with your photographer so they know the vibe you are thinking about. Pay attention to what season you will be taking your pictures in. When Mitchell and I did our engagement pictures we took them in the snow. So when I created my Pinterest board I made sure I wasn’t adding summer lake photos to my vision. That seems like a quick way to set yourself up for disappointment. Some photographers will even split sessions in half so that you can have both if you really want to have summer engagement photos but your wedding is in early fall so the time frame is too close.
Creating a Pinterest board really helps me know what exactly a client is looking for. For example, I had one couple who really wanted golden light, and they wanted images with their truck. However, I have never done photos in a truck bed so it not only showed me poses to try but it gave me a baseline to help me prepare for their session in advance. A vision board is a great way to communicate what you want to your photographer.
Next, you’ll want to choose a location and time of day. Most photographers prefer to shoot at either sunrise or sunset. Often referred to as “golden hours.” Photographers do this because those are the times of day with the most flattering soft light. Soft light is light where the shadows on your face are not as harsh or dramatic as they would be in the direct noon sun. This helps create that glowy, romantic, magical look. Your photographer can also help you choose a location if you have no ideas, but you should decide if you want to have your engagement pictures with a nature vibe or an urban city vibe. Or both, it’s totally common to have two locations for your images. What helped me decide on our location was looking at the Pinterest board I created and seeing what backgrounds I saved a lot. Mine happened to be nature and trees so that’s what I told my photographer I wanted. Another thing you could keep in mind when choosing a location is, are there any special spots for you and your partner that would be cool to do your engagement session in? A family farm, the spot you met, your favorite place to go on a date. These are all great options to add another personal touch to your engagement photos.
I struggled the most with picking outfits, and I am sure a lot of you can relate. I am someone who lives in hoodies and leggings, but those don’t typically look the best in your engagement session. This is another thing I turned to Pinterest for. I look at other people’s engagement sessions and looked at their outfits. I also took to my photographer’s advice and kept things simple with two outfits. One more casual outfit and one more dressy outfit. When looking on Pinterest I looked for different color combinations that I could recreate with things Mitchell and I already owned. We wanted our outfits to go together without actually matching identically. As a photographer I also recommend this, finding colors that complement each other vs matching each other can help make your photos look much better. I recommend wearing mostly neutral colors for your session, with maybe one accent color. I would also watch for how different textures and patterns look together. The last thing I would look for is big logos or brand names on your outfits. If your fiancé’s shirt has big words on it, when posing the words can get messed up and end up looking weird in the images, creating a distraction. You want your photos to highlight you and your partner, so eliminating distractions from your outfits can help keep the images about you. You can even send your outfit ideas to your photographer and ask their advice and how they will photograph and how they will look in their editing style. I promise, your photographer will not mind you asking questions and communicating. Outfits don’t have to be that complicated, it can even be as simple as wearing your favorite pair of jeans and a sweater, having your partner wear a neutral shirt and jeans, and bam, you both look great and ready for photos. My biggest advice for outfits as a photographer is to just wear something you feel comfortable in. If you feel good in what your wearing it will make your image go a lot smoother and you’ll feel more relaxed in front of the camera. If you're worrying about how your shirt fits the whole time you’ll be more focused on that than the actual session and having fun.
The biggest takeaway is to go in prepared and know what you want and what you need, using Pinterest and inspirational photos to figure out what you are looking for; don’t forget, when planning and prepping for your engagement session asking your photographer for advice can be a huge help. So do not be afraid to ask them. Photographers work with lots of couples every year so they probably have an answer for you and are glad that you are asking so that you do not go into your sessions nervous and confused. Photographers want you to feel comfortable in front of the camera so if you have all your answers, feel good about what you are wearing, and your excited to have fun with your partner, your session will go great. Use your tools to your advantage and everything will work out!
