engagement shoot tips and what to do with your e-shoot photographs

With the warm weather hopefully lasting a bit longer, it's an ideal time to photograph your engagement shoot. While an engagement shoot has always been included in wedding photography packages in North America, it's a relatively new idea here in Ireland and in the UK. Since it's new, some need to get their head around what it actually is. The idea of an engagement shoot is to document in an artistic fashion the way a couple is before they get married. An engagement shoot should be fun and tailored toward the couple. It should express them as individuals, and them how they are as a unique couple. For example, Gill and Jason above are both from Wicklow and we thought it would be nice to have Glendalough as the location for their e-shoot. It's nice to have a couple engaging with other in the photographs, and so I asked Jason to bring his guitar. Soon they forgot that a camera was in front of them and became themselves and enjoyed the shoot.

A nice idea is to bring along a change of clothes for the shoot. This gives some variety to the set of pictures and kind of refreshes the mind after the first part of the shoot (a shoot will typically last 1-2 hours). Wear something you're comfortable in, but is a bit special. If you are the type who likes to really dress up, then go for it! Have some California-flavoured inspiration from Jasmine Star's e-shoots here.

An engagement shoot is also about getting photos of the individual before they are married. Believe me, you will certainly become a different person after marriage! It's nice to have this opportunity to get some photos of yourselves as you are at this time in your lives.

And an engagement shoot is a GREAT way for you to find out what it's like to be behind the camera of your chosen photographer before your wedding date. You'll see if you're comfortable together and get along. And if you love your engagement shots, you're almost certain to relax on your wedding day because you know you'll look fab in the photos!

Have a look at this free e-book by a stylist and photographer who work in London. They have some great tips for your engagement shoot! http://thaoski.com/booklet/

And stay tuned for tomorrow on how to use your photographs.

And some of my recent engagement shoots from this year:

Gill and Jason

Mary and David

Claire and Cian