As a photographer in South Florida I get plenty if calls for weddings and engagement photo sessions. Many of recently engaged couples need pictures for their save their save the date cards, others want pictures for their wedding website, and some recently engaged couples have never had professional pictures taken before and just want some. There are plenty if good reasons why a recently engaged couple should consider an engagement photo session. As a South Florida wedding photographer, I find that an engagement session is a great way to test your photographer to determine if you made a good decision. When I started working at a photographer, I started shooting film. (Hate to date myself, but yes I've been a photographer for a long time.) When a photographer learns film photography, the photographer must master the fine points of photography that many digital photographers can fake. For example, with film the photographer must have a complete understanding of exposure settings. With film there is a specific f-stop and shutter speed setting that is required to get the correct exposure. With digital photography, a photographer can fake it. What does "faking a bad exposure" look like? It looks like, milky, grainy or noisy images. It's easy for a couple searching for a photographer to mistake a bad exposure for an artsy effect. Because I am what is known as a "Full Service" wedding photographer, offer wedding album design in addition to just the photography. As an album designer, it's common for me to receive wedding pictures that are. well, Awful. Receiving these horrible pictures always comes with the request, "Can you fix these?" Sometime I can, other times I can't. The question then becomes, why did you hire this person? I get the same response all the time. We loved the photographers website, or we loved the photographers personality, or both. While personality goes a long way when it comes to hiring a wedding photographer, it doesn't make up for a photographer with horrible skills. If these couples had done an engagement shoot before the wedding they would have realized their photographer isn't skilled. I hate to brag, but I know for a fact that I have to skills required to photograph an amazing wedding. I also, love shooting engagement pictures. I think every engaged couple should do an engagement photo session. In this article, I'm sharing some of my favorite engagement photo session tips. I hope you will find these tips helpful. If you do, and are searching for a South Florida wedding photographer or an engagement photographer in South Florida, please give me a call.
When searching for a South Florida photographer there are a few ways to determine which photographers have the required skills and which ones don't. By looking at photographers work online with a critical eye a couple can learn the level of a photographers skills. One consideration is posing. Does your potential photographer know how to pose? How can you tell? Many wedding photographers are skilled in the art of posing and there are plenty of unique ways to pose couples during a photo shoot. My posing skills have been developed through years of study and training as well as working with may other photographers. Either way, I believe that understanding posing is critical to a photographers success. With this said, it's important to pay attention to a photographers posing skills when looking through a website. Poses should look natural and not contrived. I know that some photographers act like posing is a dirty word but it's critical to producing great times. With this said here is part of tip one. When you see a photographer who you think you may want to hire. Ask them if you can see all the pictures from an engagement session. This way you can determine if that beautiful picture was created intentionally or if it's just a lucky shot. You can also look for consistently good exposures. Do the face skin tones look good, or are some too dark and others too light? After viewing the entire engagement shoot you can ask yourself, would you be happy if you were the client. Buy the way, you can also use this method of viewing the entire job when hiring a South Florida wedding photographer.
There are so many great locations for engagement pictures in South Florida. Some locations offer picturesque ocean views. Other locations offer views of garden settings, and others offer harbor views. Many people ask me for locations that include both garden views and ocean settings. The picture in this article was taken at a park by the ocean in Jupiter Florida. No matter what the location, it's up to the photographer to determine the best background resulting in the best picture. Click here to see another picture taken at the same location. South Florida engagement picture. Over the years I have shot engagement sessions at some of the most beautiful places in South Florida. Last weeks I shot engagement pictures at Vizcaya which offers awesome ocean views, lush gardens, and historic buildings. If you are looking for a Miami engagement location then you should visit Vizcaya, for that matter, if you are in the area, it's a great place to check out. Another awesome place for engagement pictures is the Morikami Japanese Gardens. In addition to Vizcaya & The Morikami there are plenty of beach locations and other locations for pictures. If you are in Palm Beach county, then another place to consider is the area around Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. If you need more suggestions, call me at (561) 737-5561
Another thing to consider is when to take pictures. Generally speaking, photographers consider the last 2-3 hours before sunset as "The Golden Hours". This is a time when the sun is low in the sky and has some directional lighting. The fact that the sun is directing light from an angle means that you can use the light as a hair light or use the directional light for other creative effects. Check out "The Golden Hour" Many people ask if it's possible to get a sunset in their engagement pictures. This is always a possibility here in South Florida. Just keep in mind which direction is west and make sure the camera lens is pointed in that direction. Some locations in South Florida lend themselves to better sunset shots than other locations.
About this photo.
This picture was taken about 3 hours before sunset, at the very beginning of the Golden Hour. By positioning the couple with the sun behind them I was able to capture the sun as a hair light. The fact that the background was dark I was able to make the couple pop out of the background and not blend in. This is a simple background, but by using the sun correctly I was able to make a nice picture.
Location: 500 Captain Armours Way, Jupiter, FL 33469.
