Engagement

Tips for Your Engagement Photos

Engagement sessions are some of my favorite photos to capture and I highly recommend them once you’ve booked with me for your wedding! I love having extra time with my couples and I want to make these sessions all about getting to know each other and feeling comfortable together before your wedding day. So! Here are some of my top tips for what to expect during your engagement session!

Engagement Session Tips-1995.jpg

Tip 1. It’s going to be fun! But first... it’s going to be a little awkward. We’re not all immediately comfortable in front a camera and don’t know exactly how to move or position ourselves once a camera (and a sometimes very large) lens are suddenly in front of our face. If you’re already a model - how fun! But most of us (myself included!!) are not and so having that camera be RIGHT THERE can feel a little intimidating. So just know going into the session that you may feel a bit uncomfortable, but I promise I will not leave you hanging out there unsure of what to do. I will do my very best to put you at ease, guide you into the most comfortable poses for you and make you forget the camera just as soon as possible.

Tip 2. It’s important to remember that your session with me is not about me or my camera, it’s about you and your person. When I photograph my couples I want them to be interacting with each other - whether that be kissing, or gazing into each other’s eyes, or laughing uncontrollably - I want to photograph what the two of you are like together. Sure, we’ll still take some of the standard, look-at-me-and-smile photos (Grandmas love those!), but my goal is not for you to directly interact with my camera. I want you to look back on these photos and remember how giddy you felt planning for the rest of your lives together. The planning of, and getting to, your wedding day are a big deal. And I want these photos to reflect how madly in love you are, to help remind you why you asked and why you said yes to your love.

Tip 3. I don’t care what you wear to these sessions. Your clothes are not the focus of my photography. Your relationship is. Your wedding day is a great time to rock your best formal wear so don’t feel pressure to dress to the nines for your engagement session as well. I always recommend wearing something that makes you feel beautiful AND comfortable for these sessions (with one pro disclaimer - anything with logos or words on it, or too brightly colored -think fluorescent- can be distracting). If you are focused on whether or not a particular outfit is fitting *just.so*, then you may be distracted and not focused on what you’re feeling. So wear something that you love, that makes you feel beautiful, or that when you see yourself in the mirror makes you immediately say yesssss.

Your engagement session should be a fun, relaxing time and I am here to help make it a great experience for all of us. My goal is to make you laugh, get to know you a little better and make it easier for you on your wedding day when I come to photograph that most important day in your lives! I’m so excited to work with you get to know you better!

Engagement Session Tips-5805.jpg

Strip District, Pittsburgh engagement session

This time of year is always a bit nostalgic for Erika and Zac; they met at a bonfire during homecoming five years ago at California University. These cool nights and colorful leaves remind them of when they first started to get to know each other and how quickly they fell in love.

So of course we planned their engagement session for the time of year that means the most to them - and was almost one year to the day of when they will marry next year. The Strip District in Pittsburgh has no shortage of interesting locations and these two didn’t mind that I stopped them every few minutes when some piece of architecture or lighting grabbed my attention. They just smiled at each other and cuddled and laughed together and you can just tell that theirs is a love that’s comfortable and easy.

Erika and Zac, I am so looking forward to spending the day with you next fall when we celebrate yet another milestone in your relationship!