Tag Archives: engagement photos

Look sexy, but still you!

How to look smexy in your photos, while still looking like you!

As you may (God I hope you have) noticed by now, I specialize in all things nerd. I love a good nerdy couple with their nerdy interests sprinkled, or shoved, into your face in their photos, their wedding decor, their whole being. One thing I can tell you I hear a lot from my couples, I always feel awkward, or I’m not really sexy.

Here’s what I want to ask you my nerd:

  • Is Hahn Solo sexy?
  • What about Princess Leia or Queen Amidala (especially when she’s kicking ass like in Attack of the Clones)?
  • Is there an Anime character you had/have a crush on?
    • As a kid, I crushed HARD on Quatre Raberba Winner…
  • Is Rhysand or Xaden sexy?
  • How about Flynn Rider?
  • What about a DND character you or someone else created?

The point is, those characters are sexy because they were heroic and confident. They were filled with passion and desire. Anyone can be heroic and confident! You can take your passions and personality and form them into a shell to enhance your sex appeal. Use it!

Here are some tips to using your passions to help you feel & look sexy in your photos:

  • Think about your favorite character you want to emulate and get into their stance, their gait their slouch… Then make it your own.
  • Be gentle while still feeling powerful.
    • Your hands & fingers should always be touching your partner delicately, but you should be using your strength to pull them tight against you.
    • Using a single finger (like your thumb or pointer) push your partners chin up to look at you.
  • Take deep confident breaths
    • One of my favorite things to do to help make an image sexy is to have my couple lean in to kiss painfully slowly. Take a breath with your mouth right before you kiss.
    • Take deep confident breaths with your mouth while nuzzling your partners neck or hair.
  • Be possessive of your partner (More passion!)
    • This person is yours. You would die for them. You would kill for them… hold them accordingly. Look into their eyes like you mean it. Kiss them as if it was your last kiss.

Take these suggestions and make them your own. I will always be here to help you look good, but you need to feel confident and madly in love with your partner to make your images hit that level of fire! Be confident in who you are! You are the only you there is in this world (and probably the next).

Brazos Bend State Park Engagement

Phillip & Erica’s Brazos Bend State Park Engagement portraits.

one of my ALL TIME favorite locations to take any sort of photos is the Brazos Bend State Park. I grew up in the area and have vivid memories of trekking through the trails hoping (or not hoping) to spot alligators. On several occasions, I have dragged The Spawn through the trails (and will probably hit it up again this Spring Break).

Phillip and Erica are one of my adventure couples. They enjoy hiking and the great outdoors. In fact, their wedding was held at the end of last year at Enchanted rock (blog to come), a 424 foot hike up the rock.

I enjoyed getting to know the couple during our hike through the woods and onto docks at Brazos Bend. Check out some of their engagement portraits below!

 

Houston Science Museum Engagement

Ashley & Paige chose to have their engagement photos at the Houston Museum of Natural Science downtown.

This was my first time shooting inside the main exhibit hall. I have, on several occasions taken engagement photos, bridal portraits and wedding photos inside the butterfly museum. As a museum nerd, I was ALL about exploring all the great portrait options inside the museum!

There were so many fun places to take photos. I loved the anthropology hall, the dinosaurs and the energy floor. Each exhibit had it’s own style of lighting which made every image very moody.

One bonus of shooting your engagement photos inside the museum is the weather is perfect for your shoot every time!

Check out Ashley & Paige’s photos below.

 

Camping Engagement Portraits

Brent & Karlie’s Camping styled engagement session.

Brent & Karlie opted for a camping style engagement photo session. We met up at Kelly’s pond located inside the vast Sam Houston National Forest. Brent and Karlie had the perfect location picked out just a short hike into the woods. This was my first time taking camping engagement photos, and I loved it! The Spawn came along (because he had to) and he was OBSESSED with their hammock. So much so, that we had to buy one before our next family camping trip.

Check out Brent and Karlie’s camping engagement portraits below!

 

Kleb Woods Engagement Portraits

Arnold and Maritza’s engagement portraits in Kleb Woods.

It was a gorgeous spring day when I met up with Arnold, Maritza and her two daughters. We decided to take a combination of engagement portraits and family portraits, because of course the girls are a big part of the wedding. This was my first time exploring Kleb woods. There were old structures around the main part of the forest and trails that lead all around the park.

We chose a path that lead to a small lake. Unfortunately, we also found so many mosquitos on the path. I was thankful for my AllTrails app to let us know where we were on the path and how far away from the main area we were.

The engagement portrait session was filled with laughter, smiles and of course mosquito dodging.

Check out Arnold and Maritza’s Houston engagement portraits below.

 

Downtown Houston Engagement Portraits

James & Chelsea’s showed me the hidden haunts and gem’s of Houston during their engagement portraits this April. I love this city. It’s crazy that you can live here your whole life and still learn new things. I am slightly obsessed with learning about haunted sites and (though I knew of some of them) loved hearing the details about the haunted places downtown.

Our second stop (just after the “Houston is Inspired” mural) was the La Carafe Bar, one of the most haunted bars in Houston. As we made our way to the second floor to take some balcony photos, Chelsea was telling me about the ghost who likes to push women down the stairs. Needless to say, I was white-knuckling the handrails & still managed to slip on something at the top of the stairs.

After the bar, I took James and Chelsea to a little baby waterfall I discovered hiding under the street level along the Buffalo Bayou, then we headed to the place James & Chelsea had their first date. Unfortunately, COVID took it down, so we were only able to take photos around the building.

We ended up back along the waters edge where the haunted Spaghetti Warehouse is located (which is now replaced with a bar). We walked along the water then up to the Sunset Coffee Building and lastly to a colorful bar across the street.

I must tell you, as I was writing about the haunted spaghetti Warehouse building, something pushed over Andy’s golf clubs upstairs (everyone was downstairs at the time). Everyone freaked out. I told Andy the ghosts must have read my blog and decided to let me know they’re watching…

 

Houston Japanese Garden Engagement Portraits

Shawn & Tyler’s engagement portraits inside the Japanese Garden in Houston, TX.

Just before Thanksgiving Shawn, Tyler and I took a stroll through the Japanese garden in Hermann park. This garden is one of my FAVORITE places in Houston. I remember visiting once on a week day and running into a sweet older gentleman who was feeding the squirrels. He told me on the week day (not sure how they know what day of week it is) the squirrel are very tame and will climb up your leg to get treats you’re offering them.

The weather was perfect for their engagement portraits, which was a pleasant alternative to their originally rainy & muddy engagement session we had to reschedule. Golden rays of sunshine peeked through the tall trees casting a warm glow in all of the photos.

Check out the photos below.

Troy & Hailee’s Galveston Beach Engagement Portraits

As we reach into summer, I find myself spending more and more time at the beach for engagement portraits. Every time I try to take photos somewhere else, both myself and my clients are drenched in sweat by the end of it. There’s something about the ocean breeze and sand between your toes to make you feel better.

I met Troy and Hailee at Stewart Beach in Galveston just before sunset. We chatted about life, wedding plans, twins, and crabs. Troy pointed out some crabs while we were taking photos and even captured a sand crab at the end of the night as we were walking back to our cars.

Ashley & Sonya’s Downtown Houston Engagement Portraits

Ashley & Sonya told me they were big theater aficionados when I first met them. That sparked the idea of taking their engagement photos around the beautiful architecture in the Houston theater district. I absolutely love how the photos turned out. We ended our Houston engagement portrait trip at Eleanor Tinsley park. The sunset caused a the skyscrapers downtown to glow this gorgeous orange and pink tone.

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX
kelly@kellyurbanphotography.com
Kelly Urban Photography

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX

A Southwest Houston wedding photographer
Richmond, TX
kelly@kellyurbanphotography.com
Kelly Urban Photography

A Houston wedding photographer