ENGAGEMENT SESSION PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLE: WE BE CLUBBING
For this creative engagement session, I used my Nikon D200 with the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8.
I absolutely love photography. Especially when I can bring a smile to my subjects.
The engagement session below was extra special to my clients as we were able to shoot at the place where they first met…30 years ago.. Yes, 30 plus years.
So how did I make this happen. It was simple really. As usual once the engagement session is booked, I ask my clients to write up a bio and to include their interests and love story.
After reading their love story, I knew that I had to make their engagement session special. What better way to make it a special shoot then to photograph them at the place where they met. In this case, it is Leonardo’s Night Club on La Brea.
At first, I was afraid that the club was no longer in operation. But after a few seconds with google and following up with a phone call, I confirmed that Leonardo’s Night Club on La Brea is still open for business.
I then contacted the manager of Leonardo’s Night Club on La Brea via email and wrote a masterpiece about my client’s situation and how they met for the first time at their club 30 years ago. The rest was history. I must say it is rather difficult to say no to what i wrote. I know if roles were switched, there is no way i can say no either.
My clients greatly appreciated what I did for them. It was visible to them the extent of what I would do for a concept. Below you will see a series of images that display a current day depiction of what happened 30 years ago.
IMAGE BREAKDOWN: For the 1st image I wanted to tell the story of a mystery man walking into a club filled with beautiful women. To execute this image, I had Armando stand under one of the arches a few feet from the entrance looking at Rosa as she stands along the bar area with a drink in her hand. To create that mystery, I made sure to underexpose Armando so you can barely make out his face and appearance and correctly exposed Rosa and had her in the foreground so that the attention goes to her first and then to the mysterious man midway in the image.
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IMAGE BREAKDOWN: To tell the story of the start of their first meeting, I wanted Rosa to first sit on the bar alone as she looks out into club with smile. To capture this image took a little time to ensure that I set the shutter slow enough to capture the bar lights. I then used my alien bee 1600 mono light with a 30 degree grid which controls the beam of light emitted to only 30 degrees from the light so that only Rosa is exposed and the light doesn’t over power the bar lights.
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IMAGE BREAKDOWN: Now i replicated the same image above of Rosa with Armando. I also used the same lighting setup.
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IMAGE BREAKDOWN: In this image, I had Armando walk towards Rosa and reach out his hand to hold hers. I wanted to bring attention to Rosa’s smile so I made sure to correctly expose her.
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IMAGE BREAKDOWN: The couple after meeting at the bar sat down at a table right next to the dance floor. To capture this image, I set the shutter speed slow enough to capture club lights and aperture at 2.8 to ensure there is enough blur in the background to force more attention to the couple.
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IMAGE BREAKDOWN: Now the ice is broken, I asked the couple to get a little closer and connect. The lighting setup is similar to the image above.
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IMAGE BREAKDOWN: To end the story, I had the couple stand outside the club to discuss plans for future dates. I shot this image with the intention to do HDR. High Dynamic Range to add a little more dimension to the image since the sun wasn’t at the ideal position. So I had to do my best to capture a compelling image with the external factors.
ENGAGEMENT SESSION PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLE: TRAVELING ROCKSTAR COUPLE
For this creative engagement session, I used my Nikon D200 with the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 and my newly purchased Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 VRII lens.
Similar to my past engagement sessions, I request a bio from the future bride and groom. i have a questionnaire that includes questions that reveal the couples personalities, interests and how they met. I then take that information and brainstorm for a concept that communicates the couple and their love story based off the information provided.
As the title suggests, the couple showcased below is into music..watch out American Idol. Therefore, I took their interests along with the story on how they met to custom tailor their engagement session.
I first started location scouting for the perfect location to use as a background to tell the couples love story.
With the help of Google search engine and google earth, I was able to locate the Levitt Pavilion in the heart of Old Pasadena at Memorial Park, right off the Fair Oaks exit from the 210 freeway, and on the corner of Walnut and Raymond.
Now that the location for the engagement shoot has been identified, I can now proceed with the concept stage. First I need to identify the props to be used. Since the couple is very into music, I thought long and hard to identify the use of “garage band” instruments to illustrate their love of music. If you think about it, what better way to express their aspirations on becoming the next American Idol or just the love of music, then to pretend they are rock stars. Other props included a Smart Money magazine as the future bride is a CPA, the kick ball to represent their first attraction moment. This will all make sense as their love story is revealed below.
Once the concept is complete, I visit the location a week before the shoot date at the exact time. This way I will know the lighting situation on the day of the engagement session. I also was able to take some practice shots to gauge the light and settings required for a proper image. When the planning was complete, I proceeded to tell the couple’s love story through the images detailed below.
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ENGAGEMENT SESSION PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLE: TRAVELING LOVE
For this creative engagement session, I used my Nikon D200 and Tamron 17-50mm f2.8.
The majority of the images were taken at the Los Angeles Union Station. This location is one of my absolute favorites. You just get tha t old time. The chairs and decor provide a lot of character that enhances any image. As you can see from the creative engagement photographs you see below, the decor added a lot of great elements to the images.
Please note that these are just proofs and haven’t been edited in Photoshop, but only adjust pre-post in adobe lightroom.
Again all my engagement session concepts have been tailored to the biographies provided by my clients. Therefore, each client receives a truly unique illustration of their love story captured in my engagement sessions.
For the couple depicted in the images, i initially had a hiking concept of good and evil to match the bios provided. Although, the couple was looking for a less creative engagement session. Which is why, I always have a backup concept that isn’t so over the top as a backup.
The group of images communicate the love that the share through their travels together and their travels to see one another from a distance. When traveling is so much apart of their love story, you cannot day the significance of a travel theme to capture their love story.
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PRE-VOW RENEWAL SESSION PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLE: Sing and Dance to my Heart
This session was a little different than the rest as it is a pre-vow renewal opposed to an engagement session. Although, the execution remains the same. I continue to collect bios from the couple and integrate their love story to their images.
Kaotar & Erik’s love story begins in college. Where they met and fell in love. Which is why I felt their images should revolve around the college theme.
For my concept, Pasadena City College was a perfect location. For one it is public, we didn’t have to worry about permits etc.. and the city college has been remodeled with some modern features.
The first few images represent their moments of attraction.
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The next few images illustrate their intimate connection and the growth in their relationship.
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ENGAGEMENT SESSION PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLE: Fun Time Outdoors
For this engagement photoshoot, I used my Nikon D200, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 and Lensbaby Composer. I learned from my last engagement session that strobes aren’t necessary and that the sun is more than enough. It’s just all about positioning the couple to match the sun light. Please note that these are just proofs and haven’t been edited in Photoshop, but only adjust pre-post in adobe lightroom. I was also blessed with the presence of my makeup/hairstylist Grace of http://www.beautybygrace.com . With Grace by my side, I knew the couple will look their best. I’ve also used Grace for the majority of my commercial/advertising images that can be found at http://www.lawrenceatienza.com . Thank you again Grace for help. Make sure you book her for your next wedding or commercial photo shoot.
I’ve tailored the engagement concept to match the bio the client provided before the engagement session. Similar to all of my past engagement sessions, I did my best to capture the couples personalities and interests on the images. The order of the images should also follow how the couple met and formed their bond and now lifelong partnership.
The first image I’ve attempted to capture the couples progression to “hello” and “how are you”. As this is a still picture and not video, I can’t simply ask the models to re enact their meeting. So I thought about what i wanted to communicate a little more on how to communicate the “hello” and “how are you” and came up with the scene you see below. The exchange of hello and how are you are illustrated via signs with the words “hello” and “hi”.
A special thanks goes to the couple for being such a pleasure to work with in creating these engagement images. Congratulations and I hope that you will select me to capture your special day and continue the story of your life together. Please note that these are only teasers and more images will be available soon that will be accessible through a password protected photo gallery. In the meantime, please feel free to share by copy and pasting this link N&J Engagement Shoot to your friends and family.
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As i progressed to the couples bio, the next image was tailored to illustrate the couples first initiation for their first date along with one of their favorite past time of watching movies.
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The next image few images will illustrate the progression of interaction from their first date to present day.
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ENGAGEMENT SESSION PHOTOGRAPHY SAMPLE: Engaging couple at OLD TOWN PASADENA
It was a foggy Sunday morning when a loving couple wandered to the fun and trendy town of Old Town Pasadena in Southern California. The young couple was looking for fresh and edgy engagement pictures which is why I selected Old Town Pasadena to capture their pre-wedding moment.
For this engagement photoshoot, I used my Nikon D200, Nikkor 18-200MM 3.5-5.6 VR lens and Alien Bee Ringflash. I’d like to note that i only used my Ringflash for two images. What i realized is that on location and especially for an engagement session a ringflash isn’t the best tool. The best light is the sun, which is why we shot the engagement session on the golden hour.
For the first creative engagement session image, I wanted to capture the couple as they exited their car and about to start their morning adventure at old town Pasadena.
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As the newly engaged couple exits their vehicle, they proceed to cross the street and sneak a kiss as they reached the center of the crosswalk that specifically indicates to not block the road.
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Once across the street, the young engaged Asian couple walks through an alley to get to their next photo destination.
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After a few minutes of walking down the streets of Old Town Pasadena, we find two building really close together with different textures and thought it would be a good engagement image to showcase that the couple is on the same side.
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After a few yards of walking through the old town Pasadena alleys, we found another brick building with huge green double doors.
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We took a few images at this old town Pasadena location doing the typical female in focus while male out of focus images.
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We walked a few more yards and we came across a doorway with so much character that a stop for a photograph was necessary for the engagement shoot.
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Of course as we walked to our next engagement session location, i caught a glimpse of the future bride’s engagement ring and had to take a picture.
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We finally arrived at our last location for the engagement session. This location has two large windows that could support a person. So, I suggested that the couple go to each window and reach out for each other. If you haven’t noticed the windows have different shapes.
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The last and my favorite image to showcase the creative engagement session is of the groom cropped by the waist down standing against the wall in front of his car with the hood reflection captures the bride and grooms top half.
