How to Turn Your Engagement Photo Shoot Ideas into an Awesome Reality
When it comes to engagement photo shoot ideas, it’s often difficult to make our grand plans a reality. My wife and I were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to create an epic engagement shoot that still blows our minds!
Here are some of the tips I took away from that unbelievable experience, and I share them with you in hopes that you’ll be able to turn your own engagement photo shoot ideas into an awesome reality.
Hire the Right Photographers
Hiring the right photographers is by far the most important piece of the puzzle when trying to transform you engagement photo shoot ideas into a reality. I know, I know … your cousin’s best friend’s neighbour recently started a wedding photography business and will give you a deal. If you want the photo shoot of your dreams, you’ll need to budget for it. That’s not to say you’ll need to blow your entire wedding budget, just that there are very good reasons reputable photographers with amazing portfolios cost slightly more. Trust me, it’s worth it in the long-run.
We were blessed to find Renaissance Studios Photography, recognized as one of the best wedding photography companies in the world. We can’t say enough about owners Shawn and Clint, and their team; they’re simply amazing. To this day we continue to recommend them to everyone we talk to.
It’s All About You
Although this should also be part of the process in picking your photographers, when it comes time to discussing your engagement photo shoot ideas, make sure the resulting view tells your story. I’ve often seen excited couples with great pictures that end up rarely seeing the light of day because the shoot turned into more of a portfolio-booster for the photographers than an effort to tell the story of the couple getting married.
Our photographers took the time to sit down and really get to know us. They started with a standard survey they give to all couples, but then they sit with you to really explore YOUR answers. After really getting to know us, they told us about their vision of an awesome afternoon photo shoot in an amazing downtown Toronto location.
It was totally us, and we loved it!
Take a Chance
Through the discussion around timing and logistics for our photo shoot, the topic of our love of travel came up and our recent trip to Las Vegas. I believe it was Shawn who quipped “well unless you want to take us to Vegas, here’s what we envision for this shoot” …
To say we were distracted would be an understatement!
As I mentioned, we loved the ideas they came up with for our downtown Toronto shoot …. but what about this Vegas thing? So we took a chance and inquired what it would take to make it happen.
Turns out, for the extra cost of 1 flight and 1 hotel room, we would receive 2 photographers for a full-day photo shoot! How could we say no to that?!?!
Location, Location, Location
It’s not only true of real estate; you need to pay attention to the location you choose for your engagement photo shoot ideas, or risk the story falling flat before is even gets off the ground.
Now that we were off to Las Vegas, Shawn and Clint went above and beyond, in what was quickly becoming a theme for them. They flew down a day early, rented a car, and drove around to scout some of the locations we had given them. When we arrived that evening for our pre-shoot discussion, they had mapped out an epic “Rags to Riches” story, weaving our stories into some of our favourite cityscapes and landscapes found nowhere else.
Apparently they even had some more surprised in store for us, and went off to track down a concierge to find out about renting a U-Haul for the following day … what??
Execute the Plan
Make a plan, and execute it as flawlessly as possible given the circumstances that arise.
We had a game-plan mapped out before we went to bed, and work up bright and early, and ready for an action-packed day. Were there bumps along the road? Of course! But nothing got in the way of executing on our engagement photo shoot ideas.
It’s still hard to believe all we accomplished in just 1 day of shooting. We somehow managed to fit in 7 locations for our photo shoot. 6 locations were located on the famous Las Vegas Strip (though definitely not your typical, standard, touristy shots), and then a drive out to the Valley of Fire National Park for some amazing shots just before sunset
At the end of the day, we all returned to our suites exhausted, but incredibly excited about what had just transpired.
Postprocessing
Now that your engagement photo shoot ideas have been transformed into a epic day, you’re all done, right? Wrong.
Now your photographers will go back and diligently go through each picture they took, selecting the ones that best suit you and the story being told, and send them through some photo-editing software to make them sparkle.
Make sure you have the flexibility to work with your photographers in this phase as well. You need the ability to explain why you love or dislike a certain filter applied to your pictures. What about that skin blemish, rogue person, or trashcan that you need removed from the shot? The end result is something you’ll be cherishing forever, so make sure they reflect that.
With a little extra due-diligence you’ll soon have a photo album of an epic experience that you’ll never tire of opening, and your guests won’t mind you showing off!
I know what you might be thinking … I have grand engagement photo shoot ideas too, but how can I make them happen on a tight budget? It’s not as hard as it seems, if you know where to look.
Isn’t it time you stopped paying retail so you can afford the travel lifestyle you really want?
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Be sure to comment below and let me know about your epic engagement shoot ideas!
P.S. IF YOU’D LOVE TO START YOUR OWN BLOG WITH “JUST 3 CLICKS”, CHECK THIS OUT!
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Resources Mentioned:
Renaissance Photo Studio – Rated one of the best wedding photographers in Canada, they’ve won WeddingWire’s Brides’ Choice award for 6 years and counting! Learn More
Shawn Van Daele – A creative genius! Shawn is one of the most talented, humble, giving people I have ever met. Be sure to check out Shawn and his inspiring photography projects on Facebook or his personal website.
Very informative post Bruce, I have to agree with you putting some thought and consideration into who you let take photos can make a big difference. Unfortunately I took the cheap route before(lesson learned)and let’s just say I will never do that again. The pictures came out awful. People’s hands and heads were all in the photos it was horrible. lol. Never again. I’ll be sure to take your advice in this post. Good stuff!
Sorry to hear about your experience, Dereco, but glad to hear you used it as a learning experience!
Could you two be anymore beautiful together?! MY GOSH!
I LOVE these pics! This is such a fantastic article!
I have done a ton of photoshoots as a Hairstylist… And there HAS TO be a vision!
Without a vision and story line the shoot can be aimless and certainly won’t get the photos that your looking for!
I am so happy that I am in Toronto… I may have to give your photographer friends a call. I have a few that I have worked with in the past that I was thinking of… Now I have options 😉
Thanks Erin, you’re awesome!
Yes, definitely add them to your list! There’s a very good reason they annually find themselves in the list top photographers in Toronto.
Oh my gosh, Erin…Shawn & Clint are really the best. We loved that they had a vision, and did whatever they could to help make it happen. I mean…they sourced an old piano from Craigslist and we all went to pick it up from some random house. Then U-Hauled it out to the middle of the desert to create just part of the shoot.
We confidently use the word “epic” to describe this awesome experience.
Bruce I love this post! (I may be a little biased on this one).
Great guidance to simplify creating unique and personal photos to cherish for a lifetime. I’m SO grateful we did this with Shawn & Clint…whom we now consider friends. Blessings all around with this amazing experience.
I completely agree. One of the best experiences we’ve had, and something I’d love everyone to have the opportunity to experience in their lives too.
Some really unique ideas for a photo shoot. I hope this helps lots of people looking for this type of information.
Thanks so much! I’m hoping this helps people as well
I was just having this conversation with a friend of mine. She was telling me how professional photos were going to cost her $2000, so she went with her friend (non professional) to take her pictures. She wishes she had picked a professional for sure. Love your pictures, you guys are adorable!
I’ve heard so many of those stories too Leah. Like our photographers said … people don’t want to pay for pro photos, but after the wedding, that’s all that you get to keep.
Well, I’m pretty far from being engaged…but I love this list of tips! I think all of these pics turned out great! And I think it’s definitely important like you said to be flexible w/ a photographer…because they’re seeing the images in a whole different way than you are, and they’ve always got some great ideas on how to better them!
You’re so right Ally. Thanks so much for your compliments, and i can’t wait to see yours when it’s time 🙂
Really Cool and amazing idea of photoshoot. Will surely help people to know more and more.
Thank you so much Sonali People need to know what’s possible for them
I love the idea of pre-planning! We’ve done a variety of photo shoots (both as a couple and as a family), and the sessions always come out better when we bring a list of shot ideas to our photographer. I think that way everyone is on the same page when it comes to style and focus–and everyone comes away happy! 🙂
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Planning is definitely key to successful shoots, thanks for sharing!
Absolutely agree that all of the best ideas live to see the day or fail with the photographer — especially for your engagement shots (hopefully, a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing ;-)) you want someone who can expand on your ideas and maybe improve them but also knows to just go with what you want.
Thank you & happy continued travels!
C
You’re so right Carola! The photography choice is so important in getting the feel YOU want
Thank you for the detailed account on engagement photoshoot. All the points you have listed are so spot on and very useful for both a person looking to get photos clicked and a photographer.
Thanks so much! I’m glad you found this post useful
This is great. We couldn’t have a “normal” engagement shoot as hubby is Aussie living in the UK and me Canadian planning the wedding from home. So, we chose a neutral ground and had ours done in Santorini. It is all about YOU and you will cherish these photos forever. I absolutely love your fiancee’s grey sparkly dress. It is absolutely stunning and the piano is just too cool for words.
That piano was a total surprise from our photographers, and it was amazing! I’m sure Santorini was an “okay” compromise lol
It’s going to be 7 years since my engagement. And I feel why I didn’t stumble upon your post at that time. But I hope it’s never too late. I can apply the same set of tips that you mention here for an anniversary photo shoot as well, right? Going to search for a photographer and start hunting for the location right away
Thank you so much for that compliment. It’s never too late, so definitely have an anniversary shoot!
Great guide! Wish I would have read this before taking my engagement photos, while I followed some of the advice you listed! I think that this could be applicable for any photo shoot as well!
You’re absolutely right that these tips can apply to more than just an engagement shoot, thanks for your comment!
Wonderful tips & so much info on this one! Loved it 🙂 though, we’ve taken our engagement picture already this gave me great tips for other couple photoshoots 🙂
Yes! These tips go well beyond just engagement shoots. I can’t wait to see what you end up with
You are spot on with all the points you’ve made. Like you mentioned, the photographer is the most important piece of the puzzle. A good photographer with experience would make things easier and fun. By the way, i think the pictures looks great. Love them
Thank you so much, we really love them too! Photographers really are a big piece of getting the perfect shoot
These tips are helpful for any photoshoot! It’s always important to find the perfect photographer for the specific job and to have a vision for what the photos will look like
Yes! Vision was a huge piece of what made our shoot so amazing
I recently got engaged but never really fancied engagment photographs, as we know we don’t actually plan on marrying for quite some time. But I have took on some of your advice as I am currently pregnant and looking at getting some maternity photographs done! Finding the right photographer and actually talking them through what you want is super important!
Much love, Caitylis x x
http://www.caitylis.co.uk
So amazing! Congrats on both fronts 🙂 We actually waited over a year before we had out engagement shoot done.
Definitely some great things to think about when getting together any photo shoot. Although an engagement one would be a bit more important than the normal one. And I love the ones that are so unique looking and in some inventive places.
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Yes, that was part of what made the shoot so special for us too David!