Engagement sessions are so much fun to shoot and, honestly, it is the BEST way to get to know my couple, to break down some barriers and to get better wedding photographs overall. The reason is simple. We are together for A LONG time. I don't currently limit my sessions to 1 hour. We shoot as long as we are getting amazeballs beauty and laughter. I travel a ton for my engagement sessions, often meeting my clients in the city they first met in. It ends up being a really good date with the person you love the most followed by a highly trained professional stalker who will occasionally yell out, "Get close, closer, closer! Now, be romantic!!!" We end up with lots of laughter and a strangely high amount of couples ending up in the water somewhere. Don't worry, I'm neck deep in there with you!
I've travelled extensively for my portrait and engagement sessions. I've been to Houston, TX, Edinburgh Scotland, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL, Miami, FL, Atlanta, GA, Virginia Beach, VA, Portland, OR, Asheville, NC, New Bern, NC, Sapelo Island, GA, Charleston, SC, New York City, Lake Norman, NC, Los Angeles, CA, San Diego, CA, and Washington, DC to name just a few. I am always game to travel because Wanderlust so if there is a location you would like me to meet you at, just say the word!
The best engagement sessions are ones where the locations or the activities we are shooting really mean something to the couple. We can shoot in extreme, destination locations or hanging out at your local bar. If you guys tend to be happiest at home, let's shoot you cooking or being a couch potato and even get really brave and do a Couple's Boudoir Session. We can mix it up and even do all of the above! My goal is for you to have an amazing experience together and it is also to deliver to you an amazing set of images to choose from. And yes, I want you to choose EVERYTHING I put my heart and soul into my images and want to to be unable to walk away from any of them.
Dress how you like and dress who you are. Just keep this in mind. You don't want to look at your Engagement Album or your Wall Prints in 20 years time and think, "What in the...Why did I wear that?!?" So choose clothes that are true to who you are but that stylistically will hold up over time. Let's not have a repeat of those bad 70s years! And yes, bring whatever clothes and changes of clothes you like. You'll probably get dirty at some point (or even wet if you are true to trend) and may want to change outfits. Also, ladies, you are welcome to bring along those SPECTACULAR sky high heels, but also bring along something you can walk in. We walk a lot.
Hang on - I am going to mount a smallish soapbox here and talk about what we are doing this all for. Is it for me? Yes - my images are my babies and I typically go down swinging for them. Is it for you? Absolutely. Everyone needs to feel and know they are beautiful and valuable and thats what amazing photography does. Plus you are documenting your life journey together and get to be amazeballs superstars for the day. But But in the end, we are photographing for your history. For your kids and grandkids and future family. A short story about how photography began to needle it's way into my soul. One of my early and oft repeated memories is sitting down and going through my grandparents' wedding album as a child. Their classic, beautiful imagery wasn't just beautiful to look at. It gave me a greater connection to them. I saw them in their prime surrounded by family that I could only ever know through photographs and oral history. And when I lost my grandparent, those images were there with me, burned into my memory and only strengthening my love and connection to them. Photographs are powerful touchstones of our lives. This is the power of print and the DNA of a photograph.
So, before we leave for our engagement session, look at your home, think about spaces you would want to hang pieces from our shoot. I will also be shooting with your engagement album in mind. My prints and albums are all finely crafted, heirloom quality products that are signed and ready to last several lifetime. As a fine artist, I know that we are shooting for your history as well as your art collection. Keep in mind when you are looking at your options, you are also creating a visual history for your grandchildren and that will mean more to them than a lifetime of files on a computer that they will almost NEVER look at.
