The first thing you can expect during your Utah engagement session with any photographer at Utah Wedding Photo is that we start our sessions slow and just spend some time getting to know you. Of course at this point we have talked to you on the phone during our wedding consultation, but it’s so much more intimate in person. We love getting to spend time during our engagement sessions getting know to more about our couples and their love stories.
Because we spend time during our sessions getting to know our clients this makes our posing system very natural. I always tell my clients that I specialize in natural posing. I know how awkward it can feel to be posed in front of a stranger and we do everything we can to make it not feel like this. We are very specific with our posing directions. We will tell you EXACTLY what to do so that you feel empowered and relaxed during your session. Hopefully knowing that posing will be natural will hope give you inspiration for your utah engagement session.
Any advice I give you for outfits is to be taken and modified. You don’t have to do things exactly like I say, but after photographing weddings for so long I do have a few pieces of advice to help you love your pictures. I do believe that the most important part of outfits is a feeling. When we feel good we look good, so, don’t make your partner wear anything they don’t want to. Tell them that you want their input and help picking out outfits. The quickest way for someone to not like pictures is by wearing something they don’t love. With that said, I do suggest doing a casual outfit and a more fancy outfit. This is the easiest way to get variety in your gallery. It gives you an opportunity to dress up and dress down. You can also keep one outfit more neutral and play with color for the second outfit. Here is a blog post where the couple did that very well.
It’s no secret that Utah has some of the prettiest locations for your engagement pictures. We have too many options to choose from. I always feel spoiled as an Utah wedding photographer because other photographers always talk about how we are so lucky to have such beautiful backgrounds and it’s true!
I used to have couples choose two locations for their engagement session, but I actually don’t think that’s necessary. It makes your session longer than needed and it’s hard to take pictures for that long. We can get a lot of variety in one location, I just suggest choosing a location that you love.
It can be helpful to think of the location as a backdrop for your painting. You can choose a busy location like somewhere downtown, in the mountains or something really neutral like Antelope Island or the Salt Flats.
If the locations are within 20-30 minutes of each other we can choose two locations, but we can’t travel more than 30 minutes from the first location or that adds too much time to your engagement session and really makes it not fun. You can see how variety we can get from one location with an outfit change here.
Taking engagements is something you will probably only do one time in your life. It’s usually the first time you and your partner have had professional pictures done. It’s a time to show off your love story and connection. Take a few minutes about a week ahead of time to tell your partner why you are excited for engagement pictures. Don’t be nervous to be creative and make the session something you will cherish forever!