Planning an engagement session can be kind of stressful… often when my couples and I are talking about their engagement session they’re worried about a few different things –

“I’ve never had my picture taken before”

“I don’t really know what to wear”

“We don’t really know any cool places, where should we go?”

If you resonate with any of these concerns, don’t worry! I’ve got your back. I’ve planned quite a few engagement sessions and I’ve worked with all sorts of couples, whether you’re totally comfortable in front of the camera or feeling a little shy, I know how to make things work!

|| Here are my biggest suggestions to have a successful engagement session ||

1. Be loose – This kind of helps with the concern of “i’ve never had my pictures taken before”. The key to a good photo is to be silly with your partner and have LOTS of movement. Don’t worry, I know how to help with this. You don’t need to know how to pose. I actually stray away from posing quite a bit. I use a lot more “prompts” than I use “poses”. A prompt is something imaginative, I give you a suggestion and you can use it however you want. Often, you’ll hear me use “give me your best drunk walk” or “flap your arms like a bird”. They sound stupid, I know. But the results are *chefs kiss*

2. Wear neutrals and bring a change of clothes! – If you are struggling with what to wear to your engagement session, I have created a pinterest board just for you! Just send me a text and I’ll grab you that link. Generally though, a good rule of thumb for picking outfits is to wear neutral colors (whites, browns, blacks, beiges, soft pinks, sages, anything earthy), try to avoid colors like bright red, teals, neon colors, etc. Also, try and keep no patterns on your clothing or minimal patterns. Sometimes busy patterns can distract from the image or even cause it to look blurry. For engagement sessions, I typically recommend you bring at least two outfits, one fancier look and one casual look.

3. Choose a location that feels meaningful – If you don’t know where to take your pictures at, I have tons of places I can recommend, and if I don’t know the area, I can find some for you! When thinking about choosing a location, think wide open spaces. You don’t want a lot of busyness or distractions in your background. Places with an open fields are wonderful and compliment skin tones. Dark greens (both grass fields and trees) can cause really weird skin tones on you. If you want a fun urban vibe, choose a location downtown or on a rooftop parking garage!

4. Plan the perfect timing – Golden hour is the most prime time to shoot, you want the sun directly behind you, giving you these beautiful golden tones in your pictures. You never want to shoot in harsh light so try to avoid choosing a time in the middle of the day (unless there is overcast). Harsh light will both mess with my camera and will be difficult for you as well.

5. Choose an activity – I loveee when couples want to do an activity during their shoot. You could plan a sweet picnic, bring a pizza to share, bring your skateboards or go surfing in the ocean. Maybe you love hiking, or bar hopping, these are all things that you could incorporate in your session!

6. Set expectations – Know that your engagement session will probably take 1-2 hours depending on the location. Your pictures will be absolutely EPIC because they capture YOU and your love story. Often though, we can get caught up on galleries of other people and think we’ll look just like them. (Let me tell you a secret, sometimes photographers hire professional models). So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t look the same as a paid model who knows how to pose and all their most flattering angles and such. Your photos will be absolutely gorgeous because your love story is gorgeous.