Planning a wedding is very time consuming and stressful at times. However, the end result is amazing, hello, you get to marry your best friend and wear a super fancy dress! It is the beginning to the next phase of your life, marriage!

Majority of the couples we work with, their engagement session is the first time in front of the camera of a professional photographer. To help ease some of the “planning” stress, we put together a few tips on choosing the perfect location for your engagement photos.

1. Meaningful: When discussing their upcoming engagement session, we are often asked for suggestions on where to go. This is when we start a conversation about their relationship. Where do you go together? What type of things do you enjoy doing? Where was your first date? Where did the proposal happen? To capture your relationship, we prefer to go somewhere that means something to your relationship.
2. Lighting Matters More than Scenery: It’s extremely easy to get caught up in the thought of going to a beautiful place. Your friends are posting photos with stunning backgrounds. As professional photographers, we ask you to trust us and choose a meaningful location oppose to a location with pretty spots. Cincinnati has plenty gorgeous parks and we will by-pass the traditional spots for locations that have stunning light. As long as the light is beautiful, your images will look stunning. So, don’t be surprised if we pass the normal spots for better lighting!
3. Crowded Places: Common places can be super crowded, especially ones with beautiful grounds. When choosing a popular location, there is a risk of gawkers. Gawkers can make things very awkward. Please don’t let this thought discourage you from choosing a location, just understand we may need to do a sunrise session. Most people do not get up that early, leaving the space free to be as romantic as you choose without an audience.
4. Think Outside of the Box: One of our favorite types of session are one that are not in the “common” places! We suggest thinking outside of the box. Anywhere can be beautiful (as long as the light is beautiful… see tip 2). Making your engagement session your own and choosing unique location is totally the way to go! These photos are about your relationship.

Engagement photos are about your relationship and thus it should be about you two. Choosing a location that represents your love for one another… your quirky personalities… or maybe the place you met. A location will take your photos from “aww our engagement photos” to “O…  M… G… these are so us!”

Happy Planning,

Nicole & Ryan