You’ve got the ring (Congratulations!) and you’ve settled on an engagement photographer for your engagement portraits (*wink wink*) and now you’re wondering what to do next.
There’s a few things to do to prepare yourself for your engagement portraits.
- Determine the best location for your engagement portraits.
- Determine the best day & time for your engagement portraits.
- Determine what to wear for your engagement portraits.
- Determine what to bring with you for your engagement portraits.
Today’s blog is part 2 of 4 in an engagement portrait session to do list.
You’ve already read my post about choosing a location. If not, STOP! click the link here to read it first or review the post.
Great, now that we are all refreshed let’s get started.
You’ve chosen a location for your engagement portrait session. Now you need to determine the best day and time to take your engagement photos. You really can’t determine the best time without nailing down a day or at least an approximate day.
DAY
Choose a day where you know you will not be stressed out (because of stuff you have going on or time relative to your wedding). It is preferred to get your engagement portraits done at least 3 months before your wedding. Think about your location. Are you going to take your portraits on the beach? Choose a warmer time of year to take your photos. Will there be tons of people at the park during the summer months, probably. Pick a day and time where there will be less people at your location. Do you like the look of long-selves and boots and jeans? Maybe choose a time in the fall or winter.
Find out when your wedding photographer is available to take your portraits. Sometimes, those days are week days because of the photographers wedding schedule. Be aware that we wedding photographers do not have any control over the weather (though we wish we did). Sometimes, things get rained out. We will work with you as best as we can to come up with a better day and time.
TIME
As a wedding photographer, the perfect times are generally early morning right after dawn or late in the afternoon right before dusk. If you are planing a winter engagement, you might consider later in the morning or earlier in the afternoon just because of lighting during winter.
If you are planing an in-door engagement portrait shoot at a special location, like the movie theater you had your first date or the science museum because you’re super nerds!! get with your photographer and a representative from the location to determine the best time. Sometimes, those locations have special times they allow for photos to be taken.
Find out when your Engagement photographer is taking portraits. In the summer months, I only take out-door portraits in the late afternoon because of the heat and humidity in the mornings. I’ve learned that morning shoots are still HOT and even more humid because everything is evaporating from the previous evening. SCIENCE!
Did this help? I hope so. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Engagement portrait session list.
