6 things you need to know before your engagement photo shoot
Don’t let a little corona get in the way of your photo shoot dreams
It’s feeling like wedding week on the blog right now. Today I’ll be sharing some tips for engagement photos. Our pictures were a hit and I am so happy with how they turned out. I think my experience will help to ensure you have a flawless photo shoot! And since you can totally have a photo shoot while still social distancing, you can apply these tips sooner rather than later.
Try on your clothing before the shoot with your fiance
I’m sure you picked everything out and made sure it matches from head to toe but what about your arm candy? It is important to see how you both will look together in the photos that you’ll be taking. If you’re wearing semi formal and he’s dressed in business casual, you might have a problem with how you will appear on camera. You want to match sure both parties look like they belong.
Make a shot list
Got that blingy ring that you want to make sure gets its shine? Did your fiance get a fly haircut with a design on the left side? Is your dress backless and you want to show off how hard you’ve worked to make sure you were in shape? Write it down! Think about the angles, poses and details you want your photographer to capture during your shot and share it with them at the start of the session.
Make sure photos are allowed
Some areas don’t allow photography and film so be sure to look into this before your session. We ran into a hiccup when we took pictures at a local cultural arts center and our visit cut was very short. We were able to adjust rather quickly but it was not something we planned for.
Dress// ASOS. Heels// Steve Madden.
Map out route for photo locations
If you plan on taking pictures at different locations, like we did, plan out the timing of when you should arrive to each spot. You want to think about the direction you’ll be going, the driving distance between each location and foot traffic if other people will be in the area. For example, we took pictures in Wynwood (a neighborhood here in Miami) and it can get pretty busy on a Saturday. We probably should’ve made that our first stop but we went there later in the afternoon. We ended up driving around multiple times in order to find a parking spot and had to take pictures in between people walking by every minute.
Know where you’re going to change outfits
Changing in the car is never any fun. If you can find a way to change in an actual dressing room or nice bathroom (sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do), I highly recommend it. We ran into this issue because we wanted to take pictures in unconventional places around the city which meant changing clothes in the backseat or a not so nice bathroom of a busy restaurant. I did consider purchasing a portable dressing room (it’s actually called a privacy tent and is used primarily on camping trips) but thought I’d be #teamtoomuch. Looking back on it, it would’ve made transitions so much easier.
Dress// ASOS. Heels// Steve Madden.
Don’t forget the extras
Here’s a small list of additional things to bring on your shoot:
hand held mirror (full mirror if you’ve got the space!)
snacks (a shoot can take a few hours so bring some water and small bites just in case)
touch up kit (powder to blot away oil, lipstick/lip gloss, hairspray for fly aways, eyelash glue)
safety pins
clothing rod for your car (I purchased this and loved how I was able to transport all of our clothing without the worry of items getting wrinkled)
Dress// Limited Edition Nike (pop up store only). Sneakers// NIKE
