Tips for getting the best engagement photos

Getting engaged is such an exciting time in a couples life. Engagement party, getting the ring sized, choosing bridesmaids and wedding colors. This time can also be a lot of work. So here are 5 easy tips to getting the perfect engagement photos.

1. Research your photographer and get recommendations from friends and family. 

             

     We found our photographer on Facebook. One of my Facebook friends I went to high school with posted the sneak peak from her wedding and I was in love. I looked at her other photos and got pricing. I had done tons of research up to this point without any luck finding someone I loved without our budget. Julie is from my hometown and is now the art teacher where I went to high school. We met up with her and she was just as high energy and goofy as me. It made our engagement photo session go on without a hitch.

2. Take each pose with 3-4 head positions.

I am a naturally smiley person. Due to my braces and bite at the moment it is very unnatural for me to smile with my lips closed. My fiance is the exact opposite, he feels most comfortable smiling with his lips closed. Our photographer had us always smile, look at each other, and the kiss for each pose. We then added in smile with teeth, smile with lips closed, look at each other, and then kiss. This added step allowed us to each get photos that we really loved of ourselves and of each other.

3. Try on your outfits a few days before and take pictures of you in them together.

Ken and I both have relatively large wardrobes because we tend to hold onto our things for a long time. Ken has bulked up quit a bit in the last few years and many of the things I had him try on did not fit or I did not have something to match. Trying everything on a head of time allowed us to see what we felt comfortable in and what matched. It also allowed us many outfit choices the day of. Taking pictures in our full length mirror during our dress up day was the life saver. Then during pictures I had something to reference to that allowed us to change quickly in and out of outfits without fret without having to have them laid out together in a specific order in case I was not ready for the outfit in the location yet.

4. Choose a location or pictures that has meaning to you.

Ken and I met at a bar. I know, super romantic and original. However, Ken and I met playing pool in our favorite bar, which we still regular after a nice dinner on date night or other special occasions. The bar is also not a typical scene for engagement photos which made it unique to us. These turned out to be some of my favorite photos and we had a beer there before the other photos; which did not hurt to loosen us up either. The second place we took our engagement photos was at a local park where we take our dogs to walk as well as the place that Ken purposed to me <3.

5. Include the babies- fur or human.

My engagement photos would not have been complete without my fur babies. The Brown dog-Zak, I have had for 4 years and he is so precious to me. And Tyson the small black one we got together a year ago and he definitely completed our little family. It was not the easiest task to take them in the car and hurry at the bar and check on them very often. And they wined a lot for the pictures at the park before we let them out for the pictures, but the work was worth it. They had so much fun at their favorite park and we had fun sharing these moments with them.

6. Keep the props minimal, simple, and meaningful.

Props can become huge projects if you are making them yourself and can be hard to carry to all the different areas. Keeping it simple to a few staples and also using what is available in the area can be the most beautiful and unique.The cue balls and ring featured above were simple and impromptu props. I also made the date sign (with Ken on the assist) featured in the earlier photo which ended up being more time consuming and stressful that I would have thought, however, it was worth it, but I am glad I didn't take on any other DIY props. We also had 2 chalk boards that we used for some goofy photos and we brought our Calvin and Hobbs books and a blanket for the photo below. Nothing was to big or hard to incorporate and they all added meaning in simple and beautiful ways.

7. Be a little goofy and corny.

Ken early on in our relationship introduced me to Calvin and Hobbs, which he has loved for many years. For his birthday the first year we were together, I took him for a magical day trip to Chagrin Falls, Ohio where the creator of Calvin and Hobbs lives and based some of the art from. I often get little romantic comic strips left in cards and notes for me on special occasions or in random love notes. So of course we had to wear the matching shirts Ken got for us and take a Calvin and Hobbs photo.

8. Love on one another like you normally would as if no one is watching (keep it PG :)

Ken is a big forehead kisser. This pose although inspired by pinterest is very natural for us. It was also a very simple way to use our blanket prop and get a little more romantic.

9. Get inspired my Pinterest.

Pinterest has tons and tons of great ideas and poses that you can mimic. You can take the idea and make it your own. Some of our pose and prop ideas came from pinterest, but still remain unique looking because it is of us.

10. Try to relax, take direction from the photographer, and go with the flow.

No that you would ever know from these photos, but Ken does not love to have pictures taken of him as least not for this length of time. He also has very sensitive eye which cause him to squint in even the most least amount of sun. However, even so with only a few snide comments he was a good sport and made the experience wonderful for us. We just went when the sun was going down a little more to the outside areas, did fall instead of the bright sun of summer, and did the poses where we were kissing or looking as each other so the light was not as much of an issue.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope these tips make your photo sessions beautiful and enjoyable.

A big thank you to Julie Jaco-Odenweller for taking these photos of us. www.facebook.com/Julie-Jaco-Odenweller-Photography