Wedding Photography Thursday – Your Engagement Session

© Scott Todd 2009

Welcome to Wedding Photography Thursday, my goal is that each Thursday, I will share with you my thoughts on wedding photography in the hopes that it will give you an understand of my photographic philosophies.

To kick this weekly series off, I thought we would discuss the very popular engagement session.  This session has become a staple in most Wedding Photographers packages and I believe it’s for a good reason.  I believe this session plays a critical role in the Wedding Photography Process and it helps me as your photographer capture better images during your ceremony.

At its most basic form an Engagement Session is basically a portrait sessions.  These photos can be used for a variety of reasons including engagement announcements, wedding slideshows, in wedding albums, or framed for display in your home or your parent’s home.  In most cases these photos are a combination of candid shots and some natural posed shots.  I like to treat these shots as fun casual shots that document this special transition time in your life. 

My wife and I were married in 1997 and way back then, the photographers didn’t have an option, they had to shoot with film in their cameras, so engagement sessions were not being included in the packages because there was hard cost (film and development) involved.  Today the cost involved are really more soft cost (time and labor) and it’s more feasible to use this opportunity to introduce the couple to working with me as their photographer.

This session allows me to put you in front of my camera before your big day, it allows you to develop a comfort level with my style and it increases your confidence in me as your photographer.  On your wedding day you don’t need to worry if I’m doing a good job for you as you will all have that confidence from the time we spend in this session.  This is one less thing for you to worry about on your big day.

 Some couple worry that these photos will be mainly staged poses and while they can include that, I like to capture the candid photos as well.  Think of the two of you walking down Park Ave. in Winter Park, window shopping in front of The Collection, or walking around Lake Eola or even walking on the beach at sunset.  This session can be anything you want!

My Engagement Session Offer

I believe that an engagement session should be an opportunity for a bride and groom to try out their photographer.  The current trend in the market is for the engagement session to be included with the wedding package, however, I offer prospective couples a free engagement session separate from the wedding package, because I want to use this as an opportunity to earn your business, I want you to see how I communicate, how I think, how I capture the images, how I post process the images and earn your trust, respect and confidence.  On your wedding day, I want you to see me and think, he’s got it covered – Great!

So my advice is simple, don’t hire a photographer until you get to see how you look from his (or her) point of view.  Ask them to give you a sample of their work, ask for the free engagement session before you book your wedding and use this opportunity to help you make the right decision for your wedding day.

So what do you think? Are you ready to book your free engagement session?  If so, complete the form on my contact page. [Link]

Well, That’s it for me today, I hope you have a great day.  Scott