Act Natural: How to Get Great Engagement Shots
Whether you just got engaged over the holiday season or you’ve been engaged for some time, the thought of engagement photos has probably crossed your mind! These pictures can help you create precious memories that will last a lifetime and serve as the image for your Save the Dates or be used to fill a photo album for family members. However, some people are petrified by the idea of getting in front of the camera! What do you wear? Where do you look? And, most importantly, what the heck do you do with your hands?!
Here are some tried and true tips to act natural and get the best engagement photos possible!
M&R engagement session with Silver Sparrow Photography
Hire a Professional Photographer
Rule number one of engagement photography? Hire a PROFESSIONAL photographer! We cannot stress this enough. If you want professional quality photos that you can share with friends and family, don’t trust your friends and family to be your photographer. Even if your cousin has an awesome Instagram, that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to work with camera equipment, understand lighting, and know-how to edit the photos with advanced software. It’s also a good idea to hire the same professional photographer to shoot your engagement and your wedding. That way, you get the engagement session to build up a relationship with them and get a stronger sense of their artistic style before moving to the big day.
Union Station Engagement with Elevate Photography
Wear Comfortable Clothes
You’ve probably heard this piece of advice before, but make sure whatever you wear for your engagement session is an outfit that makes you look and feel like a million bucks. That means something that you’re actually comfortable in. You don’t want to spend the entire shooting picking at itchy tags or pulling down too-short hemlines. A great way to make sure you’ll love your outfit is to plan a date night ahead of time where you wear the outfit, snap a few pics, and plan enough time to clean the outfit again before your big photo shoot.
J&K engagement session with Simply Love Co.
Choose Complementary Outfits
Along the same lines, think about how your outfits will look next to one another. Typically, the best engagement photos are the ones where the couples have a coordinated style that accentuates their individual fashion and flair while making the pair look like a cohesive unit. Whether you choose a similar color palette, pattern, or texture, you should have a unifying element that brings you together as a couple.
S&S engagement session with Silver Sparrow Photography
Set the Scene
Before you head over to the nearest park to take your photos, sit down with your partner and figure out the theme for your engagement session. What are your shared passions and hobbies? Where did you first meet? What’s a dream location you want to visit together? A picture is truly worth a thousand words and the backdrop of your photos will speak volumes about who you are as a couple. Make your photos as unique as you are by choosing a location that speaks to your specific love story!
M&K proposal session with Susan Pacek Photography
Plan Your Session Around the Sun
Have you ever heard of Golden Hour? Yeah, that’s going to be super important to getting “the shot” at your engagement session. For those who aren’t as familiar with photographer lingo, Golden Hour is the window of time right after the sun rises and right before the sunsets. This is typically the best time to get dreamy, romantic photos because the light is softer and there won’t be the same harsh shadows that can occur during midday when the sun is directly overhead. Be sure to factor this time in when planning your engagement shoot, especially if you or your partner aren’t exactly morning birds.
Lookout Mountain engagement session with Elevate Photography
When in Doubt, Kiss it Out
The number one question that comes up when doing any type of portrait shoot is “what do I do with my hands?” Of course, you don’t want to have them hanging limply by your side, but you also don’t want to feel like a stiff mannequin in every shot. So what’s the solution? When in doubt, just kiss it out! A kiss is a quick way to bring the focus back to you and your partner. After all, the entire point of an engagement session is to celebrate your love and capture the essence of your relationship before the big day.
Colorado engagement session with Silver Sparrow Photography
If you’re ready to book an engagement shoot but are struggling to come up with the location or styling, let’s chat! I’ve helped tons of couples pair up with a professional photographer to have a fun, relaxing engagement session to get amazing photos of their special moment together!