After getting your bridesmaid and groomsmen on board, one of my favorite parts of the engagement process is taking your engagement photos! This is the perfect opportunity to capture your love in some of your favorite hot spots and get some casual professional photos to display at your home or on your save the dates!
Since Landon and I can’t get married in the Fall (dang it football!), I was determined to take our engagement photos during the peak leaf color changing period this autumn no matter what it took! For us that meant, a red eye flight on Monday to Denver, a two hour drive to Vail on Tuesday AM, a 4 hour photo shoot, a 2 hour drive back to Denver that night, and then a 5am flight back to Dallas on Wednesday to get to work on time. All just so we could get the perfect yellows, orange, and red trees in our mountain engagement shoot! And my goodness it was worth it!
Our photos absolutely exceeded my expectations. Jackie, of Jackie Cooper Photography, just killed it! It was such a pleasure to get to know her better before our big day, and her work is absolutely incredible!
In preparation for this session, Jackie provided me with some excellent tips and tricks below to prepare for our shoot. (After all, we were only there for 24 hours, so we had one shot!) All of her insight was extremely helpful, so I wanted to share it with you all as you prepare for your next couples session! Enjoy!
6 Tips on How to Take the Perfect Engagement Photos with Jackie Cooper!
Collaborate + Communicate
Your photographer wants to know if you have a particular vision for the shoot, so don’t hesitate to communicate what you want before and during the session. That said, you’ve hired your photographer to create beautiful images for you, so be open to his/her ideas during the session as well. Collaboration is a wonderful thing; work off of each other!
Location
Often couples will have a particular location in mind for their session, which is great! It’s fun to have photos from a location that has meaning to the two of you. If you don’t have any ideas, though, ask your photographer. We often have ideas for places that we’d love to photograph and would be happy to make some recommendations according to what would suit your style!
Outfits
I suggest that couples choose up to three outfits for their engagement session. Depending on your location choices, you may find that simply one or two will be a good number. By limiting outfits, you allow yourself to relax into the groove of the shoot more quickly.
Pack a Beauty Bag
Often your photographer will have an “emergency kit” of some sort, but it doesn’t hurt to bring a bag of supplies that might come in handy with the particular outfit, hair style and makeup look you’ve chosen. For example, static guard comes in handy in drier climates if you’ll be wearing lightweight, clingy fabrics. Hair products and pins are good to pack for uncooperative hair and chapstick/lipgloss keeps lips from looking dried out. And don’t forget to pack any makeup that you think might need to be refreshed during outfit changes.
Hair & Makeup
If you aren’t sure you’ll be happy with doing your own hair and makeup, it’s never a bad idea to hire a hair and makeup artist for your engagement photos. This is a great time, too, to work with some vendors you may be considering for your wedding.
Have fun!
Many couples haven’t had professional photos taken together (or even individually since their senior portraits!), so it’s natural to be a little unsure of what to expect. Just relax and be yourselves as much as possible, and you’ll become more and more comfortable throughout the shoot. Another way to make your engagement session more special is to plan a date night out afterward since you’ll be looking your best and will have just spent a good hour together being sweet and lovey!
