Lenses | The Other Side {Five Simple Tips For A Great Engagement Session}

Lenses | The Other Side

Engagement sessions, I love them! Just like a wedding day there is a lot of planning involved in making any engagement session a successful one. For many clients this is one of the first times they’ve had a professional photographer photograph them.

Five Simple Tips For A Great Engagement Session

Location

One of the most important parts of an engagement session is location. While I have a list of locations that I know are perfect for engagement sessions, I always ask my couples to pick their engagement session location.

When choosing a location for your engagement session I suggest making it personal. Pick a location that is special to you and your fiancé. The location could be where you got engaged, where you had your first date, or a place that you love to go on the weekends. No matter what location you choose make sure it’s a place you love. Not only will you love the images more, you will feel more comfortable at a location that is special to you.

Time

From a photographers perspective the best time to shoot is the hour before sunset into the actual sunset. This is what we call the golden hour in the photography world. All that means is the sun is lower in the horizon; this position of the sun creates softer more golden color light that is perfect for creating great images. Photographers like myself can work in any lighting condition, but I promises if you plan your engagement session around the “golden hour” you will love, love, I mean love your images!

Hair and Make Up

Go ahead and pamper yourself a little! Having a professional do your hair and make up will make you feel great and look even more stunning then you already are!

Need help finding a stylist? Just ask. There are plenty of stylist that love working with photographers and I can help you find one.

What to Wear

I always tell my clients to wear clothing they're comfortable in and love! If your comfortable in your clothing you will be more comfortable posing and being in front of the camera. Secondly, you will love the way you look in your images if you wear clothing you love. For colors I always suggest fairly neutral colors, but as long as you’re not wearing super bright colors like all hot pink, most colors look great on camera! 

Feel free to bring two outfits as well. If you would like to bring a change of outfits, I say go with one look that is casual, and one that is more night on the town. This will give you options for your save the date cards and two different feels to your engagement photos.

Clean That Ring!

I suggest having that beautiful engagement ring cleaned before your engagement session. Just like you, you want your ring to look it’s best in your photos. Not only will it sparkle a little more in photos with your fiancé, but will look great in the close up images I will create with it!

Have A Good Time

My number one tip is to relax, have a good time, and be you! Engagement sessions are tons of fun and low stress. They are all about capturing the excitement of being engaged and the love you and your fiancé have for each other!

There you have it, five simple tips for a great engagement session. I’m game for pretty much anything. When the time comes to plan your engagement session ask me anything. Props, crazy fun locations, and unique ideas are always welcome! 

Finding Your Passion Again

Finding | Your | Passion | Again

"Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate."

- Jon Bon Jovi

Passion is a strong word; it defines one’s enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. For many we lose our passion for what we love to do somewhere along the path of life. Maybe it’s something that naturally fades away as we get older, maybe it’s because we have more responsibilities and have little time to fulfill our passion, or maybe, just maybe it’s the fact that we suppress our passions because it seems like an unobtainable dream.

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My passion has always been to tell a story using a visual medium. It started with video production; so much so, I went to college for broadcast design and production. I thought one day I would own a video production house where I would shoot and edit creative videos for commercial businesses. That dream faded when I left college and entered the cooperate world via network television. 

Three years into the cooperate lifestyle I realized I was not doing what I set out to do in life and furthermore I had lost my passion for being a creative. I was more worried about my next performance review then I was about creating something meaningful.

I found my passion again when my girlfriend gave me a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens for Christmas. See that little, oh so little lens, awoke my passion, that lens made me want to create again. With that passion alive and well again I set off to start my photography business vs. a video production house and leave the cooperate world behind. Passion is what has driven me to succeed at what I’m doing. If I didn’t following my passion I would still feel lost and confused in the cooperate word.

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I challenge you to find your passion again if you’ve lost it, or keep following it if it’s alive and well in your heart and soul. Life is a short journey when you think about how fast the years fly by. Life might have thrown you a curveball or maybe you feel like you have no time to do what you love, but I know you still have a passion deep down in your heart that you need to fulfill. Don’t let anything get in the way of fulfilling your passion in life, be it making photographs, cooking, teaching, and a slew of other things. Passion is what drives us to live a full life, not money, or promotions. So, go do what you love, even if it’s just for you, and no one else.