This is a question I get asked a lot! There are a lot of reasons you might want to have an engagement shoot so I thought it might be helpful to couples to write a blog post about it.
1. I hate my photograph being taken, I am so un-photogenic!
Oh if I had a pound for every time I was told that I could retire now. I think the problem today is that we are bombarded with photos on Facebook and Instagram that we have forgotten what good photography can look like.
We get tagged in photos in unflattering poses or bad light so its no wonder we think “oh I just take a bad photo…..”.
On an engagement shoot we can talk about finding some good light and simple poses that will transform your attitude and make you much more confident about your wedding photographs.
2. I don’t want to spend ages posing for photos on my wedding day, why would I want to have another shoot as well?
I totally agree, why would you want to spend your whole day getting pictures taken, you want to spend the time with family and friends.
When we can about the timings for your wedding day we will plan between 15-30 mins of portraits depending on what you want. I know though that sometimes people don’t believe we can get some lovely relaxed shots in that time.
By doing an engagement shoot its a great chance for you to get to see how quickly I work with minimal fuss. This will often put my couples at ease as they realise I am not going to take over their day.
3. Where would we have the shoot? Can we do it at the venue to see where we will shoot on the day?
You can choose to have a shoot anywhere within an hours drive of my studio. The studio is based on our family farm so a lot of couples actually choose to have the shoot on the farm, tying it in with a wedding photography planning meeting on the farm. It saves on meeting up too many times if you are travelling up for wedding planning and give you the opportunity to look through the various albums options etc in the studio.
I have also done shoots in St Andrews, Edinburgh and Glasgow. So lots of options.
I think its a good idea to do the shoot in a different location from your wedding for a couple of reason. Firstly its nice to get different shots, you don’t want to replicate images on your wedding with a change of outfit! Secondly if we shoot at a different time of year we might not be able to shoot in the same location at the venue due to weather, lighting conditions, directions of sun etc.
4. What would I do with the photos?
Well thats totally up to you but I have had couples use the photographs for Thank you cards, Save the date cards, Guest books and Signature boards amongst other things.
If you are interested I can give you more information and ideas.
Hopefully thats helped with a few questions people have about engagement shoots. Get in touch for more information.
We are having a very small wedding on 12 September 2018 in bridge of weir. Could you please give a price for some photos at church and then some family group photos and some photos of ourselves at reception in Houston. We are not having a dance and no cake cutting so just a nice small selection of photos. Thankyou
Will drop you an email Shirley…