Do you find yourself falling back on the same outdoor location to shoot your engagement sessions? Even worse, do you do the same two poses on the same boring backdrops in your studio? Do all of your engagement sessions closely resemble one another? One of the easiest ways to break out of this rut is to shoot a couple’s engagement session at the location they got engaged at. Not only is it a new location for you, these images will mean so much more to your clients.
Now it’s true some of the locations your clients got engaged at won’t be reasonable to travel to for a quick photo session. If that’s the case, why not suggest doing the session at the place they first met? If all else fails, find out what the couple’s interests are and go from there. What do they like to do in their spare time? Do they have any similar hobbies? Say they let on that they love riding bikes together around a particular lake or park. Perhaps they frequent the same coffee shop and sit at the very same table every Saturday afternoon. Maybe you discover the couple is really big into taxidermy…awkward. Hey, I never said you wouldn’t end up in some pretty weird places, just not your “safe & comfy” locations you tend to favor!
Be aware that if you start shooting more engagement sessions like this, you’re going to be doing more driving to all these different locations which takes more time which ends up costing you more to shoot the engagement session. On the flip side of that, also realize how diverse your engagement session portfolio/example pics are going to look compared to what you started with. In the end, your engagement session images will be more meaningful and therefore more enjoyable to your client.
As always I encourage you to share your tips, techniques, and websites relating to this topic. Thanks!
Dz
Loving it man. I hate canned sessions as you allready know. It’s such a good reminder to stay out of ruts and be fun and creative… Gav
The Black Dog is a great place as well. They are great to local artists and the staff is very friendly.