Creating A Beautiful Engagement Session

Engagement photo sessions can be a very rewarding experience for your wedding photography clients. I like to tell my clients that engagement sessions are great for them because it gives them a chance to just take a break from wedding planning and spend a couple of hours focusing on each other and remembering that the whole reason they are doing this crazy event is because of each other. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating a wedding engagement session for your client.

Make sure the environment is a reflection of the client. These photos are really for the client to enjoy and send out to friends and family before the wedding. They should be a reflection of the clients personality and interest and not the photographers. Talk with your client. Throw out some suggestions of places you like to shoot and see what they think. Many times they will surprise you with ideas of their own. I am based in San Antonio and we have a beautiful downtown area. I love to shoot there because no two shoots are ever the same and the client will get a fun, energetic, one of a kind engagement session.

Let their personality show through. Let them just have fun together and capture those moments. Don’t be too strict in your positioning as that will come out in your photos. You want to let them be as natural as possible. Lots of kissing, lots of touchy feely. You’ll find it makes them relaxed and your photos will have a truly emotional connection show through.

Make certain elements remain a focal point in the collection. The engagement session is about two people who love each other very much coming together to share their love displayed in print before their wedding. These photos should be a reflection of that love and symbolism.

• Keep the eyes a subject of the photo as they are the windows to the soul. The intimacy of the moment can easily be captured simply in the eyes.
• The ring is another very import symbol and should be a main focus of several of your angles. No matter who the client is, they love their ring as it will be the main symbol of their love for years to come. Focusing on that will be a sure crowd pleaser.
• Hands and hand positioning are very important elements in your images. People can tell simply by looking at body language if it is genuine or contrived. The positioning of the hands can be the difference between having a photo look relaxed and welcoming to having it look uncomfortable and posed.

Have fun! The most important thing is to let your clients have fun. Many times my shoots can range from an hour and a half to 2 hours in the hot South Texas sun and that can drain non professionals very quickly. Having a fun energetic relaxed photographer who knows what they are doing and what they want in the photo makes the time fly by for the client. The more relaxed and the more fun they are having, the easier this will show through in your collection. Keep things light hearted. Many times it’s very hard to get the groom to be into the shoot. They tend to be a little more stand offish and less relaxed. Start off with some fun shots.  Little things that will get them in the mood. A stop at a bar along the way never hurts either depending on your setting and a nice image or two of the couple sharing an intimate drink in an outdoor café can lead to a beautiful image.

Planning. Nothing makes a shoot take longer than it should than lack of planning. If you’ve never been to the location that you are shooting then it is helpful to do a walkthrough sometime before the shoot so that you are not trying to figure things out on the go. Clients are not professional models and expect things to go quickly and effortlessly. Mapping out your game plan before the scheduled shoot time will greatly increase your chances of having a good shoot.

Keep these tips in mind and please feel free to share any ideas you have that you like to incorporate in your engagement shoots.

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Robert Hillis

My name is Robert Hillis and I operate Memories of Your Lifetime Photography. I specialize in wedding and portrait photography in San Antonio, TX. I am an artist at heart and I love to “Paint with my Lens”! I’ve been shooting professionally for about 5 years but I’ve been doing it for fun forever! I truly love what I do and I think that shows through in my photos.

I like to tell my clients that because a wedding is truly a once in a lifetime event, what I offer them will stand the tests of time. Of all of the things that you buy for your wedding, what I offer will outlast them all. The food gets eaten, the cake goes away, the tuxedo is returned and the limo is a distant memory. The dress may stay in the closet out of view for years to come but my images, my photos, will outlast you, your kids, their kids and even their kids kids. I’m not just taking photos, I’m preserving your family history. I am capturing the Memories Of Your Lifetime!

robhillisphoto.com