Love Journal: A+B's Coastal Engagement Sesh

One thing about me, I’m always going to pressure my wedding & elopement couples to make time for an engagement session. You might be thinking that engagement sessions are not for you but I’m here to ask you to think again and to break down some of the benefits of scheduling an engagement sesh, let’s go!

Reason 1 is the most important in my opinion; an engagement session is a perfect way to break the ice with your photographer. Your wedding day is one of the biggest days of your life and your photos are an investment. Breaking the ice with an engagement session means that on the day of the wedding, your photographer can show up and get right to work, rather than spending time making introductions and getting the lay of the land. Beyond that, chances are your photographer is going to be around for some intimate moments: getting dressed, practicing vows, first looks and more. These are moments where you want to already know the people around you, especially the person third-wheeling with a couple of cameras in hand.

Every couple has their own vibe, which brings us to reason 2, letting your photographer get a sense of your on-camera chemistry. When I began capturing weddings in 2015, I swore by shot lists. Before every wedding, I spent hours on Insta, Pinterest and Facebook, looking for one thing: couple poses. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was, to put it bluntly, a complete waste of time (at least for couples who I hadn’t met prior to their wedding day). The fact is, not every pose will work for every couple because every couple has their own unique chemistry. During an engagement session, your photographer will figure out your vibe which can be anything from sweet to spicy to silly to shy and anywhere in between. With that info in their back pocket, your wedding photographer will be able to make a loose shot list that is tailored to your energy for your wedding day portrait sesh, while also having a better sense of what to expect during the candid moments of your ceremony and reception.

Reason 3 to book in for an engagement sesh? The images you use and share will let your wedding photographer know which images resonate the most with you. Taste is subjective and there’s no right way or wrong way to capture someone but everyone is entitled to their preferences. You engagement gallery will give you a good idea of what to expect from the portrait component of your wedding photos and is the perfect opportunity to ask your photographer to do more (or less) or a certain type of shot. Even if you love your engagement gallery and don’t have any feedback, an experienced wedding photographer will take note of which shots you share the most and make a point of capturing similar moments on the big day.

It might be your wedding day but chances are you’re not the only one invested in your wedding photos. Reason 4 to get engagement photos is less about you and more about your parents, bridal party, wedding planner and anyone else who is counting on some good pics to let them relive those wedding day mems over and over again. In my experience, parents are often even more invested in photos than the soon-to-be married couple, and wedding photography has probably changed just a little bit since your folks’ day. For anyone who is invested in your wedding gallery, having a beautiful engagement gallery to share is the perfect way to give them confidence in your photographer, which means your guests won’t be stressing on the day of.

Reason 5 is last but certainly not least; you can put your engagement photos to use. Whether you need images for your save-the-dates, for your online wedding guide, or holiday presents for your future in-laws, engagement photos will be there for you.

Pro-tip: Direct sunlight is something a lot of photographers fear but it doesn’t have to be the enemy. There are a lot of different approaches to working with direct sun but one of the simplest is to backlight your portrait subject. To backlight a subject do exactly what it sounds like and place your subject so that the sun is directly behind them. To nail this technique, I expose for my subject rather than the sky or the background, some of your highlights will probably get blown out and that’s okay. I like to open my f-stop to at least f2.8 which lets in the most possible light. To soften the high contrast edges between subject and background, I use a filter like a 1/4 or 1/8 black pro-mist filter. Next time you’re caught between a rock and a sunny place, try it out for yourself