What to expect at an engagement shoot with your wedding photographer

Apr 5

Engagement sessions, sometimes called engagement shoots are a fun way to get to further know your wedding photographer, plus get some awesome images in the process!

Today, we are going to share with you what to expect at a typical wedding engagement session and how you can best prep for it.

Before You Meet

Before you meet with the wedding photographer, it’s a good idea to think about where you’d like to take images at and also, give your photographer some inspiration in the process.

While most wedding photographers are great at what they do, many times they can’t read your mind, so what they have in mind and what you’re thinking, well, it needs some guidance.

It's a great idea to provide your photographer with a few images for inspiration or to show what you like..png

Sending them a small handful of images that you’d like to try or set the tone for the session will be very helpful to the photographer.

We recommend that you send 5-10 images to them in an email ahead of the session if you wish.

Next, the location.

You’ll want the photographer to choose a wonderful location, as many have a few they tend to enjoy taking images at or you may want to suggest a location.

In either case, you’ll want to pick a mutual place where you’ll be happy with the images.

Finally, you will want to think about a wardrobe change. Most couples want to have one change and while that’s fine, you will want to make sure the location has a place to change, like a restroom.

The Start of Your Session

Once you arrive at the location you picked, you’ll be greeted by the photographer and assistant if there is one and you’ll do a few test photos to start with.

It may seem awkward at first, but having the photographer take 3-5 test images beforehand helps them to make the right adjustments needed for the best images.

Don’t sweat it, the first 5 minutes of a session can typically be a bit strange if you’ve never done a photoshoot before.

The majority of sessions will last about an hour to an hour and a half, during that time the photographer is going to pose you, tell you where to look, how to move and the like too.

Once you get into the groove of the session, acting more normal becomes easier and if the photographer is good with their persona, you’ll feel right at ease most often.

You’ll also find other places within the venue or location to take images at, so expect to do some walking, if you plan on wearing heels, bring a pair of flats or tennis shoes to walk in, then change them out before taking images.

Once the session has ended, the photographer should tell you the next steps in the process.

What Happens After the Session

Most times, the photographer will return back to their edit bay and download (hopefully make a backup copy) the images to process.

Some will post an online gallery for your to see their progress, others will wait until the end of editing to send them to you, some will do both, this generally depends on the couple.

For example, Carole will create an online gallery and try to have some ‘teaser’ images within the next 24 hours for you to view and share online.

As she goes through them, she’ll increase the gallery with other stand-out images. Once everything is done, she’ll send out everything on a USB and she’ll email you that the drive is on the way.

Your photographer may have a different workflow, but most follow something along those lines.

Finally, make sure the images have a print release so you can print them at your favorite place.