Celebrate your Engagement!

July 11, 2010 Marius 3 Comments Photographic Thoughts, Some good Advice engagement

Engagement shoots are a great way of celebrating your choice of spending your life together with the person you love. Engagement shoots should be fun, spontaneous and creative. They should also reflect the couple’s unique personalities.

Normally they will also be used in your wedding invitations; guest book etc. so they should also incorporated the same theme you will be using at your wedding. A lot of thought should be put into making these photos memorable, so make sure you know exactly what you want before you stand in front of the camera.

The rest of this guide will help you make some of these important decisions once you get ready to have your engagement photos taken so that you’ll end up with the type of creative and unique pictures that will reflect the awesome relationship that you have with your future husband or wife.

Discuss your ideas with your photographer beforehand:

Make an appointment with your photographer of choice before the photo shoot and discuss exactly what you have in mind for your photos. This is also the ideal opportunity for the photographer to get to know you as a couple and to “break the ice’ before the shoot. Don’t be afraid to give them ideas of even pictures of what you are looking, as most photographer are always open for new ideas. Discuss location ideas, wardrobe and themes so you know that both of you are on the same page.

Location:

Your location can either be some place that are cool for you as a couple for example a graffiti wall or somewhere that is memorable for both of you ect a favourite restaurant, beach or the place where you got engaged. If you are going for a themed shoot, try finding a spot which reflects just that, like an old train station or park. By choosing different locations that have some type of connection to your relationship you’ll be able to be much more genuine during your shoot and you’re almost guaranteed to appreciate them more in the long run.

Other locations that might be considered are:

Where you had your first date
Where you had your first kiss
Vibrant colours like a bright wall or door, flower field.
Interesting buildings with great architecture
A place which you would not normally consider, like old building ruins, a abandon warehouse or scrapyard.

Once you have decided on a location, be willing to get out of your comfort zone. Be willing to do funny things, like jumping into the air, getting wet in the waves on the beach even if the water is freezing or dressing funny and quirky. The more open you are for ideas, the more special and unique your photos will be. Don’t leave anything out that you will regret later on once the photo shoot is finished.

Clothing options and Ideas for poses

Make sure you feel great and comfortable in what you wearing, and that your clothes also reflect who you are as a couple. Put some extra effort into your appearance, as nice makeup, hair and clothes make for better photos. Depending on how much time and patience you have, you can pack multiple outfits to use at different locations. If you are going for a themed shoot, choose clothes that fit the theme. Even bring props along like cupcakes, umbrellas, balloons, lollypops or anything that you might think will fit in with the theme that you have chosen. Even a vintage car or old suitcases.

Mixed serious poses with fun poses to give you a wide variety of photos. Be ready for a lot of smiling, kissing, nose rubbing and hugging to get those romantic shots that you want. Remember, this is the time to try and capture that “truly in love” feeling that you want to show off to the rest of the world. This is your moment!