More often that not, couples become engaged and start cycling through their catalog of photos and discover that they have primarily nothing but phone photos and selfies at their disposal. As such, engagement portrait sessions are extremely popular and one of those photos will certainly end up on your save the date card, wedding invitation, or wedding website. Paperless Post recently approached me and asked if I’d be willing to share my tips and tricks on making the most out of your engagement session.
1. Relax and pay no attention to the person following you with the camera. Every photo that I fall in love with from an engagement session comes from a moment where the couple is so wrapped up in each other, they’ve forgotten I’m there. In fact, the best sessions happen when couples act like they are on a date and just talk and chat the entire time as if I’m not even there. I’ve even had couples spend the entire session trying to one up each other with jokes. It doesn’t matter how you interact, as long as you do.
2. More points of contact create more intimacy in photos. Hold hands, make out, wrap up in each other. No matter what you do, the more that your bodies are connected, the stronger the image will come across.
3. Be fun and active. Dance while you tell those jokes. Hold hands, move around, walk and talk, get playful. I try to do as little posing as possible, but I will intervene and get posey if the couple seems stiff or isn’t interacting with each other. The best moments happen, again, when you forget your photographer is there and focus on each other.
4. Kick your session off in one of your favorite places. I like to start my evening sessions out with happy hour and my morning sessions with brunch. Starting off your session at a place of significance for the two of you is a great way to begin your session in a relaxed way at a place that feels comfortable. It will put you at ease (so will that adult beverage) and allow you to get comfortable behind the camera.
5. Utilize negative space. Negative space appears in beautifully composed images as the blank areas in and around objects. In a photo with negative space, you’ll have plenty of room to include all the pertinent information you need to give your guests without detracting from the image.
Featured Vendor: Paperless Post is passionate about the resources that they provide their community. If you are seeking a unique invitation experience, head over to their website to see how you can create both online and paper stationary, invitations and save the dates that reflect your individual style. To date, Paperless Post users have sent over 85 million cards. You can also check out Paperless Post on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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