I have a confession: I don’t like using the term “engagement photos.” It just sounds so…cheesy. It sounds like we have to make photos that show off your expensive diamond engagement ring, like where the ring is in focus and you two are kissing in the background out of focus. It sounds like we have to make photos that don’t reflect real life and instead are some staged version of your “engagement.”
(If you don’t know anything about me, then know this: I like to photograph real life. Not an overly posed and overly dramatic version of real life. Engagement photos to me just sound overly posed.)
And yet, as a wedding photographer, I also love the idea of doing a portrait session at some point 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 absolutely essential to successful wedding photos.
But yuck, that phrase…engagement photos.
Instead, I call it a Get to Know You Session. Because that’s what it’s really about. It’s not about an engagement ring or even necessarily announcing your engagement. (After all, you may have been engaged for a long time!) It’s about getting to know your photographer and getting to know what it’s like to be photographed.
Let me assure you, I make this fun! Get to Know You sessions with me are a laid-back hour where we walk around someplace that is near and dear to you, find some pretty places to take pictures, and talk a lot. I give you coaching about how to pose so that it doesn’t look posed, where to put your hands, and how to stand together so it doesn’t look awkward. 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 🙂
And when you’re ready for authentically natural “engagement photos,” give me a call!
