The engagement session we shot with Rachelle and Paul was really fun for us…. and also a little different for us. The couple was great and totally on their game with smiles and poses.
We loved it because whenever they looked at each other they would just bust up laughing… such a cute couple in love! It was awesome.
The part that was “different” about this session was that Scottie and I switched roles a little bit. Usually Scottie is the “lead” shooter. Which means he poses couples with his vision, while I stand further back with a lens that zooms in close and I focus on catching the intimate moments that happen “between” the poses. This time, I led the session for a good part of it and Scottie got the sneaky shots! Scottie was VERY excited because it can be exhausting to lead all the time, so he just got to chill in the background and let me take over this time. Luckily, Rachelle and Paul were very easy to work with and I was totally relaxed around them, so I was good and ready to take over the session!
Scottie and I always joke about who’s the better photographer (don’t worry, we’re still great at encouraging each other as well!) and him being the lead most of the time puts him at an advantage to get the shots that you get to “design” a little more and you can take all the time in the world to get that perfect shot. Second shooter is at the mercy of chance… to chance that you can click the button at the EXACT right moment of the couple interacting, not a moment too soon (aka blinking pics) and not a moment too late (aka guys wiping lip gloss off pics) and to chance that your camera settings are perfectly right to catch that perfect moment in the perfect setting. So basically, now that I’m leading more sessions… watch out Scottie!
(This is my favorite photo that I took when I was leading)!
(Oh and this one…)
(… and these… well, you get the idea. Basically I had fun leading)! 🙂
Back to the happy couple…
Rachelle and Paul confided in us when we first got there that they were worried about being awkward in front of the camera. I was totally shocked when they told me that because they seemed so natural!
Some couples do better when we pose them and some do better when we just put them in the right lighting and tell them to hang out together. Rachelle and Paul did amazing when they were just interacting. We loved capturing all the tiny intimate moments between the two of them!
Hopefully they felt good enough about how the engagement session went that they can spend their time worrying about things other than photography on their wedding day (i.e. tripping down the aisle, passing out before you say “I do”, and bees being drawn to the flowers… you know, all the important stuff!). Don’t worry guys, I’m totally kidding about this stuff, I’ve been to countless weddings over the years and I’ve never seen any of this happen! This is why we do the engagement session… to give us all a little practice session before the wedding! Now we know that they feel the most comfortable when interacting with one another and they know how to hold a long kiss with people looking on and cameras shoved in their faces!
Rachelle and Paul, thanks for being so friendly and easy to work with! We can’t wait to see your smiling faces standing at the alter with all your family and friends smiling back! Click to see the rest of Rachelle and Paul’s Tempe Town Lake engagement session.
