Even though Dimitra and Dionysios’ engagement session was photographed back in March in Leichhardt, I’ve held off showing their photos until now at their request, as they wanted to use the photos for the wedding invitation and guest signing book at their wedding in October.
You will often hear me say “Pick a location that has a meaning to you” or “Think about where you want to display your photos”. Having your portrait photos taken at a location that has meaning to you is important, but equally as important is having an idea where you want to display your new portrait photos.
A simple thing like knowing where you want to display your portrait photos helps to guide your wedding photographer to photograph your engagement session and get the best results for you.
As an example, say you wanted to use a photo from your engagement session as part of your wedding invitation and the invitation was going to be horizontal in orientation. You may have also visualised the photo in your head. Straight away we have narrowed the pose and since wedding invites are not that big, a close up rather than a wide shot of the you would be better in this case. Since the invite will be viewed horizontally, a photo which is vertical in orientation would make sense, so the writing of the wedding details can go next to it.
As you can see from the above example, a few ideas from the bride & groom can be a big help to the photographer in getting what you want.
During Dimitra and Dionysios’ session, we were also photographing for the guest signing book. As you can see from the photos below, we had more freedom with the type of the photos and orientation, as there was going to be one photo per two pages and plenty of white space for their wedding guests to write a message.
Engagement location
After we spoke at length about their wedding day and what they planned to do with the engagement photos over coffee, it was time for their portrait session. Leichhardt Park is not the most picturesque of places, but it was convenient for them, and it did provide some variety to the photos. Leichhardt Park has a woods / tree line area, sandstone walls and archway, stairs, pathways and of course, benches. So, with the right light and angle we had plenty to work with.
The feature photo at the top is my favourite from their session. It was taken towards the end of their engagement session and you can see how relaxed they both look. It’s also the same photo that they selected to use on the wedding invitation and on display as a large canvas at their wedding reception.
So how did I take the photo?
The sun hid behind clouds for most of the day. As the session was winding down, we did however, get a small window, where the sun was on its descent and low enough to use a nice back light.
I positioned them both in a way that the archway was being used to shield them from the full force of the of setting sun, only allowing a shaft of sun light to light their hair and backs. I asked them to come together, being careful not to give too specific direction, so the pose would look natural.
Because of the direction of where the light was coming from, we were limited in our backgrounds for this photo. The background ended up being a row of houses on Norton Street. Because of the shallow depth of field from the camera lens and how the light was falling on them, you cannot tell the background is a house.
This goes to show that good flattering light trumps everything. Yes, a great location can be helpful, but if you have bad, non flattering light, the location is not going to help. It’s still going to be people in unflattering light regardless of the background.
The below ten photos is the page layout, I designed for Dimitra and Dionysios’ guest signing book, which they had on display for guests to sign next to the lolli bar at their wedding 🙂
The black border around each photos below represents two pages, known as a spread. Photos printed on one side, leaving plenty of space for their guests to write on. Their book had a black book cloth cover and the photos where printed on fine art paper, which is the same paper used in some of the wedding albums I offer.
By spending some time thinking about how you want to use the photos and then discussing them with the photographer before the engagement session, everyone will be happy with the outcome of the photos.
Do you like the idea of a guest signing book for your wedding? Call Mike on 0410 691 114 or fill out the contact form to include one in your wedding photography package.
Do you like the idea of a guest signing book for your wedding? Call Mike on 0410 691 114 or fill out the contact form to include one in your wedding photography package.