The idea behind engagement session is for the couple to have professional photographs captured during your pre-wedding period, a moment of very sweet and enjoyable time in your relationship. Concepts are endless, while most would like to have photos that reflect their personalities, some have fancy ideas about their sessions. Oftentimes, couples get carried away by images they see in social media sites… great pictures, multiple out of town locations and fancy dresses! Sure, for the most part, photographers can execute those ideas but here are some of the things that you might want to consider when planning your engagement shoot:
Time. Multiple locations and multiple dresses take more time to shoot. 3 sets of dresses usually takes 2-3 hours in a single location. Sometimes it takes longer, depending on the weather condition, ambient light, location (if there are lots of spots to play with) and how “game” the couples are. In every engagement shoot, nothing happens exactly as planned in the timeline. You have to consider the amount of time to do makeup retouches each time you change attire, chow times and of course, the chatters in during shoots. LOL.
Effort. In the Philippines, we all get married once. The idea of shooting engagement sessions for 8 hours or even 12 hours sounds eazy peezy for inexperienced brides and grooms (it is doable but here’s the catch!). Brides initially get excited of shooting long hours and multiple locations having in mind the longer it takes, the better, but on the day of the shoot itself, it becomes more interesting… this is when the couple starts to feel fatigued and starts to realize engagement shoots are so exhausting… the combination of high humidity (70 RH), endless hours of walks and above 30 degrees celsius of temperature, can somehow wear down the couple. We always suggest to keep it 4 hours or less. Other countries such us US, UK, Australia and other parts of the world, they do their sessions for an hour or two! 🙂 Enjoy your time together before your big day. 🙂
Expenses. Yes, we got those plans beautifully laid out on paper. Here goes your day of shoot. We do an early morning hair and makeup. We travel = petrol. We shoulder meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) of your photographer/s, hair/makeup team, planning team and some friends during your session. Wait, there is more! Charges we pay to location owners! Expenses alone is enough to give your some thoughts to keep going in your head. 🙂
Our goal should always go beyond just taking stunning photos… but it should always be about the “experience.” That moment of you having an easy and great time with your partner together reflected in your pictures. So when you look at your photos, you always associate it with genuine enjoyment with your significant other… and not just looking at great photos associated with an empty feeling and with stressful memories of super kapoy due to long hours of shoot, set aside those expenses.
In summary, keep your engagement shoots short and enjoyable. Photos come and go. Experience don’t. We don’t relive photos… but we relive the moments and stories behind those pictures.
I hope this helps. Love lots! Mwuah mwuah!
Woody!