Why do couples want or need an engagement session?
Let's face it. Most couples will only hire a professional photographer for their wedding. That's about it. For all other photos throughout their lives, they will either shoot these themselves, ask a friend to do it, or simply go to Sears, JC Penney's, Walmart or maybe Olan Mills.
These firms all offer excellent value, but they don't go into the field. They are "studio" portrait companies.
So what if you want a professional quality photo at a location other than a studio with a "studio background?" You need to hire a professional location photographer.
But didn't I just say most people only hire a professional photographer for their wedding? It's true. But isn't your engagement part of your wedding? It is!
When you only have photos taken at your wedding, they are all going to be with you dressed in "formal" attire. The bride will be in her wedding dress and the groom will be in his tux. But often a casual photo taken in a non-formal environment can be really special. Perhaps a photo in a park or forest preserve would look nice. Or consider doing a "shopping" day and having the photographer photograph you in action. Or how about going to an amusement park like "Great America" and having the photographer take photos of you enjoying your day! The more creative you get, the better these photos can be!
Engagement photos can be used for a variety of purposes. Many people use them as engagement announcements or wedding announcements for the local newspaper. Others just want a good photo for their desk at work. Still others will use them to create place cards at their weddings so their guests will know what table they are seated at during the reception.
Photographers like engagement sessions for a couple of reasons. First, it's a great way to get to know clients better. And, these sessions offer the opportunity to see how well the couple photographs. So by the time the wedding actually happens, the best angles to photograph the bride and groom are already known.
So consider an engagement session for your wedding and get some professional "casual" photos of you having fun!
2 comments:
Cool stuff Uncle Russ! I've been meaning to finally post. Keep it up! I enjoy reading your stories and tips on photography! Maybe you can help me pick out a camera someday!
Thanks Frank. I'm glad you are enjoying the postings here.
Sure, I love spending other people's money on equipment! :)
If you get serious about photography, you'll find you can wipe out your entire savings buying up all this stuff.
Seriously, there are so many good cameras out there today in both the point and shoot catagories as well as SLR cameras. Nikon has a really nice SLR out now called the D50 that is so good for such a reasonable price that you could go straight for an SLR if you want.
The little Fuji F10 point and shoot camera is EXCELLENT in image quality and you can often find these for $299 or less now. A new F11 is expected out in November that will add more manual controls, but many people (short of guys like me) will never need or want to deal with manual controls. This makes buying an F10 even better because they will probably discontinue it soon making the price drop even more. The F10 was about $399 when it first came out, so I would think the new F11 will be at least that much.
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