What was meant to be a “mini” session (as I call them) yielded “full sized” results. Many of our wedding clients take us up on the offer of an in-studio “mini” engagement session when weather is cold and the full outdoor session won’t happen until weather warms up. In Claire’s case, she brought so many ideas that this could have easily sufficed for the full shoot! Love it!

-Dave

Missy and Alex were in town from New Jersey just long enough for a quick Engagement Photo Session. We met in Seattle in July, 2010 at the Phillips-Link wedding. Missy and Alex’s wedding photos should be quite a contrast from these… featuring sunny skies and beaches as we head to the Bahamas for their event! Stay tuned.

-Dave

I wish I could take more credit for the golf shot on this post, but I can’t. Leslie had a distinct look and feel she wanted to accomplish and I simply made her vision a reality. Location, wardrobe, even the exact pose they are doing, was all set up by Leslie. All I did was add in lighting to make them pop out from the background on the cloudy grey day and add a vintage/aged look to the edit.

Drew and Leslie both work in the iconic downtown Lafayette courthouse. The last image (image 4) was shot inside in the rotunda at night. The simple dramatic look of the image was due to circumstance. Only the security lights were turned on. So what you see is only my studio strobe light.

-Michael

Noah and Kailey wanted something a little different for their Mini Engagement Session (a full session to follow later). They brought several props of their own, and I contributed a few. Can you spot mine? I think number three will get all of the attention, but Kailey’s smile in two is priceless! What do you think? Comment below!

-Dave

As the start of holiday portrait season and end of wedding photography season are overlapping our plates are running full here at ISPhotographic.

Katie and Cory’s engagement session was shot last month, but I am just now getting it blogged with a free moment I found to play catch-up. Image #15 kissing under the street light is my favorite. It is an entirely created mood. The light from my strobe hitting the happy couple is way brighter than the ambient sunlight. This, with some clever editing tricks on the back end, gives the recorded image the illusion of night even in bright daylight. Do you think it worked? Let me know in the comments!

-Michael

The props that Mari and Don brought on their session helped to tell their story and make the session a personal one. Don once took Mari on a picnic in horticulture park, so we recreated that event in the same park. The little details of the basket and pumpkin help sell the scene. As you can tell from the uniform, Don is in the Army. While Don was away they wrote letters. Mari is holding Don’s letters to her in the last few shots. Add to these emotional items a little bit of studio light, a killer fall sunset and you get some powerful, romantic images.

-Michael

We encourage every wedding couple to do  an engagement session with the photographer that will be shooting their wedding. Not only will the couple learn the way that we shoot and a few common positions, but almost as important, I as the photographer learn the way the couple photographs.

Chelsea and Jason are from Lafayette but they currently live in St. Louis. So this week, when we sat down to go over last minute plans and changes, I requested (ok maybe I insisted a little bit) that they do a mini engagement shoot. On this shoot I learned that Chelsea may be an outgoing talkative person, but is shy in front of the camera. Yet, when Jason is in a shot with her she relaxes quite a lot, and when she looks at Jason and not  directly at the camera she is even more relaxed. The things learned between both parties go a long way to working smoothly on the big day. So no matter if you hire me, Dave or anyone else, take the time and do an engagement shoot with them. You will be glad you did.

Here are a few favorite images from Chelsea and Jason’s mini engagement shoot. All images were taken in the same two blocks of downtown in 45mins. Crazy huh?

-Michael