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.

1. Determine the best location for your engagement portraits.
2. Determine the best day & time for your engagement portraits.
3. Determine what to wear for your engagement portraits.
4. Determine what to bring with you for your engagement portraits.

Today’s blog is the final post (part 4 of 4) in an engagement photography portrait to do list.

You’ve already read my post about choosing a location and the day and time and figuring out what to wear. If not, STOP! click the links above.

Great, now that we are all refreshed let’s get started.

You know where, when and what you will be wearing at your engagement photography session. Now what else should you bring with you?

Attitude

This is one of the most important things to bring with you! Come well rested and in happy spirits. If you are aggravated or unhappy, it probably will show in your photos, despite the funny faces and jokes your engagement photographer tells. You will look back at your pictures and only remember what was making you so angry/sad/unhappy that day. Remember, you are brave, beautiful and kind! So, clear your mind and expect to have fun with your engagement photographer. We are here to make you smile and get amazing photos of you that you can cherish the rest of your lives.

Props

Some couples want to bring props to their engagement portrait session (other than themselves). Fantastic! Things you might want to bring:

• Defiantly bring your engagement ring. That’s a no-brainer. The photographer is going to want at least one photo of it.
• Bring something with your wedding date on it. This is great for save the dates.
  • If you are into baseball, bring baseballs with your wedding date (could be multiple, or just one)
  • If you love picnics, bring picnic like stuff to take a picnic portrait.
  • Chalkboards are always great options as well. You can write whatever you want on it.

Be creative and always be yourself. If you are a band nerd, bring band-appropriate things. If you are really into concerts, maybe bring a concert ticket that can be Photoshoped to have your wedding date on.

Pets

Do you have a furbaby you are in love with and want to share all of your big life moments with? Bring your pets to your engagement portrait session. Maybe bring someone else along with you to help with your furbaby when you’re taking photos without them… though your engagement photographer might be able to help as well. I know I’ve helped hang on to leashes while taking their photos.

Did this help? Did you enjoy all 4 sections? I hope so.

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.

1. Determine the best location for your engagement portraits.
2. Determine the best day & time for your engagement portraits.
3. Determine what to wear for your engagement portraits.
4. Determine what to bring with you for your engagement portraits.

Today’s blog is part 3 of 4 in an engagement portrait photography to do list.

You’ve already read my post about choosing a location and the day and time. If not, STOP! click the links above.

Great, now that we are all refreshed let’s get started.

You know where and when you will be doing your engagement photography session. Now what to wear, what to wear? Let’s start with the basics, color.

Color

First and foremost, DO NOT under any circumstances wear the exact same thing. Gone are the days of matching white button up shirts and jeans. The key word is coordinate, not duplicate.

Consider your location and the color of the location during your portrait session. Choose to wear complementary colors (which will stand out the most with your surroundings), or you can choose the color before or after on the color wheel.

for example, If you are taking your engagement photos outside in a forest like area in the middle of summer, expect everything to be green and brown. Don’t wear green or brown. You could wear pinks or purples which are complementary colors to green (using the color wheel below, find the green and move directly across, that is your complementary color). You could even get away with a color that is 2 colors away on the wheel, like a blue or yellow.

Dress for the temperature

Consider the time of year you are taking your portraits. Will the weather be cold or hot? Dress appropriately for your Engagement portraits. We, as engagement photographers, don’t want anyone collapsing from heat exhaustion or shivering in all of your photos because you didn’t put enough layers on. You need to feel comfortable. If you feel comfortable, you will look it… unless you are a professional model.

Patterns

I defiantly suggest one person in your party wear a pattern of some kind while the other wear a solid color or a very feint pattern. If both people are wearing patterns, it confuses your eye and makes looking at the image hard. If both people are wearing solid colors, it dulls the image. The only time you can get away with both wearing solid colors is if one person is wearing multiple colors (ie a mustard scarf with a blue top and brown boots). In this case, I would suggest the other person pick a color from the same pallet, like a black top and blue pants.

Rent the outfit

If you have something specific in mind, but don’t have the actual outfit, or the money to buy it, you can check out websites like Rent the Runway. There you can find the perfect outfit, or two to borrow. Once you’ve taken your engagement photos, you can return the outfit. Make sure to let the photographer know your outfit is rented. Be mindful of sitting in the grass and climbing in trees. You don’t want to have to buy the outfit if you ruin it.

Did this help? I hope so. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Engagement portrait session list.

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.

1. Determine the best location for your engagement portraits.
2. Determine the best day & time for your engagement portraits.
3. Determine what to wear for your engagement portraits.
4. 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.