So the big day is coming up and your friend who just got married keeps telling you that you need to get some engagement photos done. You ignore her, brush her off and eventually, you stop replying to her text messages. After all, what does she know? She only just got married and experienced everything you’re about to experience.
If you don’t trust your friend, at least trust me when I tell you that you MUST absolutely have an engagement shoot for a few straight forward and honest reasons. There’s no worse feeling than walking into something scared.
Let’s talk a little bit about the role of your photographer at your wedding. You want to at least like him, right? You want to be sure that he can capture some good pictures of you and your significant other. How are you supposed to find that out if you don’t go out for a little test drive before the fact? His website may be wonderful and people may have told you fabulous things about him, but you still aren’t 100% sure about the kind of connection you may or may not have with the photographer.
So this is the first reason: You must know your photographer and this is your chance. You must know their style and you have to know if you can hangout with them and enjoy being around them because trust me, they’re going to be everywhere you turn your head at your wedding.
The other thing is, you have to trust them. If you’re the type of person who is often afraid of others taking your picture or never really likes the outcome of your photo (you may not even like your selfies), engagement shoots are definitely for you.
Getting to know your photographer before your big day means that you will be able to trust that they can make you look good in a photo. Now I don’t mean they’re going to photoshop you and put tons of makeup on you; if they are as professional as they say they are, they’ll be able to pose you right, light you up correctly and sometimes with a little bit of makeup, perfection happens. You should be able to look at your engagement pictures and wedding pictures and not point out a bunch of negatives. You should simply just love them.
The trust factor doesn’t only benefit you, it also benefits your photographer because now, they are able to know how to pose you, how to light you and what really makes you look like the million bucks you already are. Your photographer will ensure that they show off your best features and hide what you don’t like as much. To eliminate that fear, you should have the opportunity to see photographs throughout your engagement shoot to help you ease your fear of getting your picture taken.
Basically, after a good engagement session, all your wedding photo fears should disappear. No magic needed here. Just some fun, lots of trust and the right poses will do it for you.
Speaking of poses, you also want to make sure that you get a good variety of those. Don’t you hate when someone gets married and all their pictures look so structured, so posed and almost fake? That’s something you do not want. Your photographer will get a chance to show you the difference between candid, posed, close-ups and creative photos. This will give you an idea of the style you would like to see more of for your weddings. Say you’re really loving the creative photos, you can now let your photographer know and they can ensure to give you more of those on your wedding day.
All in all, we can’t stress the importance of engagement shoots enough. They will simply make your wedding day a stress-free breeze. If you’re worried about how to prepare for your engagement shoot, we also got your back.
Here’s an article we’ve written on your do’s and don’ts for your perfect engagement shoot:
www.knight-image.com/how-to-prepare-for-my-engagement-session/
Written by Zeinab Saidoun, Creative Content Director – (C) Knight Image Photography
Ahmad Elfarram
Hello! I’m Ahmad, a wedding photographer in Newmarket Ontario.
If you’re planning a wedding in Newmarket, Barrie, Aurora, Muskoka or abroad and like what you see on this website, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me by phone: 647-862-8510 or through my contact form.
A collection of my recent wedding photography can be found in the wedding gallery. Knight Image Photography – Wedding Photographer Newmarket has a page on Facebook where clients and potential clients can view my most recent images and comment on my photography services.
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