The majority of people are not top models and are totally uncomfortable in front of a camera and a somewhat stranger.
I know what it’s like… I’ve been there. I hate being in front of a camera. It can be super awkward.
The main thing you need to remember is RELAX!
Be yourself! Be authentic!
We’re all about capturing the Real You. We shoot for our couples; not for other photographers, or for awards, or to get in blogs (although we have won stuff, and have been published, and that’s awesome!)
Getting you ready
We thought that in order to get you ready for your shoot, and help you prepare mentally, we’d give you some tips and tricks, and let you know what to expect.
1) Location Location Location!
A huge part of what makes engagement photos so interesting and special is where the photos are taken.
At Family Creative Imagery, we want the location to reflect you as a couple. If you’re NOT an outdoorsy/woodsy type, we’re not about to go take your photos in the forest. If you DO go down to Kits beach all the time, or spend a lot of time at a certain coffee shop, or maybe you had your first date bowling… maybe we’ll take your engagement photos at one of those places!
Part of the process of finding a great location is to really getting to know each other previously. Which is why we use questionnaires to get the little details.
2) Lighting
This may come as a shock…. Photographers HATE bright blue bird skies.
I know it may sound weird, but let me explain… When the sky has no clouds in it, the light is very “hard”. It creates a lot of dark shadows. It can make your face and skin look very “harsh”, and it makes it harder to get a great exposure of you and the background. If it’s super bright out, we’ll have to stick to areas that are in shade, and have to use fill flashes, reflectors and diffusers, which can limit our background selection, etc.
When the sky is overcast with clouds, this is the very best lighting situation! Photographers LOVE overcast skies!
Clouds ‘diffuse’ the light; making it very soft, lessening the shadows and allowing us more freedom with where and how we take the photos, and making you look great!
Another point about light; Photographers love to take photos in the early hours of the morning, or right before dusk. This time is coined as “Golden hour” because of the beautiful, romantic, soft, orangey-yellow light the sun casts.
At FCI, we will most likely try to schedule your engagement photo session when we know the light will be good, and maybe we can sneak in some ” golden hour” photos! ;)
3) Outfits
Outfits can make or break an engagement session. But we don’t want it to be something you stress about.
Remember Be Yourself!
And to make things a little easier, here are a few important things to think about when you’re preparing what you’re going to wear to your photo session.
- Does the outfit fit with the location and season?
- Is it something you would wear normally?
- Do you feel comfortable in it?
- Are your outfits on the same scale in terms of ‘dressiness’?
- Can’t decided on to dress up or dress casual? (Bring two outfits – one dressy, and one casual)
- Don’t fear colours or prints.
Once you have those aspects down – ACCESSORIZE & TEXTURIZE! And bring in a POP of colour!
For the Ladies;
- Get a manicure, or do one yourself (you’ll want to show off that ring)
- Do your make up to match your level of dressiness. It might also be a good time to schedule your trial makeup session with your wedding make up artist.
- Add Layers – jewelry, hats, cardigans, blazers, shoes, scarves are all awesome!
- If you’re going to bring a purse, make sure it matches your outfits, but we advise you keep your purse in the car, so you don’t have to carry it around. It can get in the way.
For the Guys;
- Layer it up! sweaters, cardigans, blazers, sunglasses, a hat, and shoes (yes, your shoes are important too!)
- If you’re going to get a hair cut, do it a week or two before is best so you don’t have that awkward fresh cut look.
When your outfits complement each other (I’m not saying match! Pleeaaase DON’T match), your photos will look cohesive. One trick I find, is having ONE small thing in your outfits match; like a pair of blue heels, and a similar blue tie.
What to Expect
Your FCI photographer will have been to the selected location a little bit earlier and scouted out shooting spots. When we meet up, we’ll go over some of our ideas, and any inspiration we have behind those ideas.
We’ll start you off slow, so you can get used to being in front of our camera. We might have you walk around, or do a task for us (like getting a drink, or laying out your picnic blanket, go window shopping, etc.) and we’ll follow you around like a paparazzi. Then we’ll slowly start to give you verbal cues; “Try doing this” or “Can you do that again” “Put your arm around her shoulder” etc.
We will encourage you to just hug and hold each other like you normally would. Some couples are totally okay with PDA, and some couples are super shy and not okay with PDA. We encourage both! We’re not going to make you do anything you’re not comfortable with.
As you start to get more comfortable with the camera, we’ll start to get more creative. We’ll start posing you different ways, adjusting your posture, and start finding more creative shots to take.
