The best thing about having photographers for friends is free photo shoots. I was Facebooking my first weekend photo project when my gal pal Tiffany asked if I’d be interested in taking her engagement pictures. A nice joke, I thought. She wasn’t kidding.Now, engagement photography scares the film out of some amateur photographers. Capturing the essence of love between two people you don’t know is difficult. My advantage is that I know the subjects, a glimmer of comfort for me, but I was still nervous. I wanted to deliver some spectacular shots for Tiff and Andrew.
Our shooting location was going to be West Palm Beach. I’d only been to their place once before at night, so I was unfamiliar with the area. But the beach was only blocks away. If no adequate outdoor backdrop could be found for their photos, the sand and sea would do nicely.
Google is every photographer’s friend. So I wouldn’t walk into the shoot completely blind, I did some homework. I’ll share what I found.
A lot of what’s online is the same information repeated over and over again. It seems to me Chris had the bulk of it in his collection of stories. As I’d expected, taking good engagement pictures came down to your rapport with the couple. A relaxed and comfortable couple is best for photographing. Since Tiff, Andrew and I get along great that wasn’t going to be a problem.
My friend Rigo came along for this shoot too. He and I take our weekend photography excursions together. Like going to the gym, it’s a lot easier to get motivated when there’s two instead of one. He shot on a Nikon D300 with a 72-200mm lens. Between his close-ups and my wide-angle shots, we were covered.
Saturday’s overcast skies were a blessing in disguise. I’d thought to head up to West Palm in the early afternoon to scout locations. However, Tiff and Andrew already had an idea of where they wanted to go. Instead of scouting, we had lunch and Rigo got to chat with the couple and get to know them better. After a delicious meal at Too Jays, it was time to get to work.
I know the best lighting for outdoor photos is morning and night, but I never knew why. It turns out that sunlight is hard light. A hard light is one that strikes the subject directly and intensely. Think of a flashlight. The sun’s rays are like that. Diffusing a hard light and spreading it across the area of the subject helps greatly. Cue the clouds from our overcast day. They helped soften the lighting and help us capture some truly great shots.
To learn more about how light influences a photograph (scientifically) Andrew suggested I read this book: Light Science and Magic, An Introduction to Photographic Lighting. It's hysterical how physics finds a way back into everything I do. Music, martial arts and now photography. I wish more attention had been paid in class.
So that's it. First engagement shoot ever - success. Here are all the shots I took.
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