I have a confession: I don’t like using the term “engagement photos.” It just sounds so…cheesy. It sounds like we should make photos that show off an expensive diamond engagement ring. It sounds like we should make photos that don’t reflect real life and instead are some staged version of your “engagement.”
And yet, as a wedding photographer, I also love the idea of doing a portrait session with you before your wedding. It helps us get to know each other, it allows you to have fun, get comfortable in front of the camera, and get some practice being photographed. It’s nice to have nice pictures of you two together. And it gives us the opportunity to make photos of you not all dolled up in wedding clothes. I have come to believe that this portrait session is essential to successful wedding photos.
That’s why I call it a Get to Know You Session. Because that’s what it’s really about: getting to know your photographer and getting to know what it’s like to be photographed as a couple.
Get to Know You sessions with me are a laid-back hour spent together in the beautiful Arnold Arboretum in Boston. We walk around, find pretty places to take pictures, and talk a lot. We talk about your wedding day plans, your family dynamics, and the friends you’re excited to celebrate with. I give you coaching about how to how to stand together so it doesn’t look awkward and where to put your hands. I remind you (a lot) to stop looking at the camera. I make you laugh! And I help you relax so that you can just be yourselves in front of the camera and get authentically beautiful photos.
Still not convinced? Look at the photographs! I promise you that all of these couples were nervous for their Get to Know You session, worried that it would be uncomfortable, and convinced that it was impossible for them to look good in pictures. You be the judge 🙂
