-Peter Lindbergh
Square Root of Red Photography is hosting a contest with District Weddings- – tell us your proposal story for a chance to win a free engagement photo session! We want to hear all the heart-felt details!
Post your story at the District Weddings blog in the comments, direct link located here.
So you’ve done your engagement photo session, and received a hundred or more pics of the two of you looking fabulous….now what?
One couple I’ve worked with used the engagement photos to create a photo book/sign in book, so when guests came in to the wedding, they could flip through the pics and then leave happy congratulations notes near the photos. Blurb is one resource you can use to create these photobooks, and they’ve been running quite a few holiday deals lately. The most recent discount I’ve received via email is if you order before December 8th, you can get free shipping. The promo code is BLURBSHIP.
Another variation on this is to blow up your favorite photo from the engagement photo session, mount it on matteboard or even on foam core with some sort of white border, and then guests arriving at the wedding can sign in on the white border. Mpix offers a few different options for this type of product.
Probably the most common way to use your engagement photos is to put a photo on the save the date card. You can design these easily using any number of website that have templates, like Wedding Paper Divas. Or you can create a save the date maget with your photo on Vista Print, where they have a ton of different magnet sizes and are constantly running deals for free and sometimes even half priced magnets (google Vista Print coupon codes to find the latest discounts before you order). One creative idea is through Mpix, which offers photograph commemorative tickets. There are quite a few wedding invitations out there that use some sort of ticket theme–like a train ticket, sporting event, or show ticket, and with some creativity you can definitely modify Mpix’s photograph commemorative ticket into something interesting.
If you’re creating a wedding website with information about the event, it’s great to make the site more interesting with fun pics that you’ve taken during the engagement photo session. My all time favorite use for engagement photos–a background slide show. I recently attended a wedding where the engagement photos played on a large LCD television next to the DJ booth, and it was definitely fun and interesting to see all the pics.
If have any questions about engagement photos, please post them below. If you need ideas for locations, we’ve got a big list here.
Every wedding photographer has different styles, but there are a few tricks in the arsenal of every photographer that can make photographs look completely unconventional. While some photogs choose to create effects through computer programs like Photoshop, others choose to take photos using cameras or lenses that create the effect. Probably the one I’ve seen most is the fisheye, which has become so very, very standard at weddings. The fishbowl look is fun and because of the perspective, pictures taken in fisheye can capture an extremely wide angle of everything going on in a scene.
One look that I love is the lensbaby. They are these neat lenses that capture one part of the picture very sharply, and then everything around that sharp part is blurred out. People have created amazing effects with this. File Magazine keeps a gallery of lensbaby photos here.
The look that I have completely become ob-sessed with is a look created using toy cameras–a Holga or Diana. Holgas were created in China in the early ’80s as cheap plastic cameras. Because they were cheaply made, light would leak into the body of the camera and expose the film, creating blurred edges in the photograph and unexpected light spots or streaks. Since you can’t tell how much light is being let into the camera, every picture that is printed is totally unexpected. Best part–this is a less than $30 camera….crazy!
Fabulous wedding holga photo here.
If you’re interested in having photographs in fisheye, or done using a lensbaby or Holga, you should talk to your photographer so that they have the right equipment or know how to photoshop/process the pics after they’re taken.
Not too long ago, I made the startling discovery that I could spend hours and hours on the internet without having any idea about how much time was passing by. Just getting through my daily roundup of wedding photography blogs, wedding inspiration blogs, and photography blogs (let alone the wonderful links that these blogs provided to other gorgeous dresses or amazing lighting techniques!) and pretty soon three hours had passed. And then I’d go back to my favorite blogs again, just to make sure I hadn’t missed a pictures of some fabulous looking letterpress…and then another few hours would pass…
Rather than facing the possibility that I might have a serious blog addiction problem, I discovered the magic of blog readers. In one fell swoop, I could go through all of my favorite blogs, in one spot, and never be in danger of missing a fantastic image or idea again…and I might actually be saving some small bit of time going from website to website.
There are lots of Reader websites out there, but if you have a Google account, Google provides a great and easy to use reader at www.google.com/reader. When you get to the opening page, go to the column on the left, where you’ll see a button that says “Add a subscription.” Click on it and you’ll have the option of pasting in a link to an RSS feed.
You can find RSS feeds by looking for a link to an RSS Feed on your favorite blogs. Copy and past the link into your reader, and you’re all set. You can see the content from all your favorite blogs, and the reader will continuously update your reader with new content from the blogs.
Here are links to feeds from some gorgeous wedding inspiration blogs to get you started:
Happy blog surfing!
Wondering where to go to take engagement photos? There are tons of options in the DC area! Here is a list of some beautiful and interesting locations. I’m attempting to create a complete list–any other ideas?
Attempting to DIY wedding can increase the difficulty level of wedding planning to crazy heights. One seriously difficult aspect of a DIY wedding involves centerpieces and the typical notion that centerpieces should include flowers. When I was wedding planning about a year ago, creating non-floral centerpieces that I could do well in advance was a puzzle that truly stumped me….but then I found Nettleton Hollow.
Nettleton Hollow has manzanita branches, which, if you’ve been scouring wedding magazines for any time at all, you’ve seen as centerpieces, escort card holders, ceremony decorations, etc. Not only do they have the manzanita branches, but they have all sorts of dried branches, leaves, and even dried flowers. Just a basic branch in a vase holding tealights (maybe the LED ones, since those are less likely to catch fire) can create a fairly inexpensive and elegant centerpiece.
The Nettleton Hollow blog provides this inspiring idea, and instructions here:
The first question we get from most engaged couples is–what should we do to get ready for the engagement photo shoot? And then, what should we wear? Great questions, since it’s not always easy to figure out what to be prepared for during the engagement shoot. Here are some tips for taking engagement photos.
Makeup: Definitely, definitely wear makeup. Even if you never wear makeup in real life, you should wear makeup for the engagement photo session. It’s basically a way for you to even out your skin tone and amp up your best features. I highly recommend using, at the very least, foundation, blush (often neglected, but adds the perfect slightly flushed look for pictures), lipstick or some sort of gloss, and a touch of mascara. If you’re not comfortable with putting on makeup, take a trip to the Bobbi Brown Counter where they are great at helping people craft a look. If you’re worried about wearing too much makeup, take a quick snapshot of yourself with your digital camera…9 times out of 10, you’ll find that even though it might look (or feel) like a lot of makeup, it will look perfect for a photograph.
Outfits: Do make sure that the color of the outfit you are wearing does not clash with what he is wearing. Don’t feel the need to match perfectly. Solids are preferable to patterns since usually the world around you will have so many patterns, the solids help you pop out of the picture. If you are wearing a patterned dress/shirt, I highly recommend that he wear solid colors. Don’t be afraid of colors! Frequently people want to wear black because it makes people look skinny, but for the majority of people, this will make your skin look either a touch ghostly or a touch sallow. Finally, heels look great, but usually engagement photos involve quite a bit of walking around, so make sure you bring a pair of comfortable shoes to walk around in.
Accessories: Avoid distracting jewelry–let your engagement ring shine through. Fun earrings or necklaces (although make sure that one of these is the focal point, and the other is a bit less prominent) are great since they are close to your head, but don’t wear watches or bracelets that take away from the sparkle of the ring bling.
Props: Props, even something as simple as a scarf, a balloon, a bright umbrella, can definitely add a great element of fun to engagement pictures.
Think Ahead: Think about what kind of pictures you want, and dress for this. If you want some crazy jump shots and plan on doing cartwheels in a park, you might not want to wear a skirt to the engagement photo shoot. Talk to your engagement photographer about what kind of photos you’re looking for–fun, crazy, urban, romantic, etc., so that you both are on the same page about how the end photographs should look. Send the photographer pics that you’ve seen that reflect what you want in a shoot.
Above all, prepare to have fun!
This is all very exciting! A very small piece of online real estate, all to my very own self. I will continue posting new photographs to www.squarerootofred.com on the main site, but this will be a way for me to add in some thoughts about the engagement/wedding/adventure photographs that I’ll be taking in the future! I can’t wait to get started!