Engagement sessions are a unique chance to express yourself and what you love. It's a great opportunity to create some wall art for around your home of the two of you separate from your wedding attire.
Setting up an engagement session is fun! I love to brainstorm with you to tie in elements around an engagement session that layer unique meaning around you as a couple. Are you an outdoor couple? What do you love to do in your free time? What location could we tie into your engagement photos to create a different look from your wedding images to help round out your complete wedding story visually?
Every couple I work with is uniquely different. I offer two unique types of engagement sessions with different amounts of coverage at different price ranges to fit what you are looking for. My engagement photography is offered as an add-on to any wedding collection.
Traditional Engagement Session
$650
By far the most popular option, most couples want the 1 1/2 hour, two looks & two locations engagement session. This is most often what you will see online when looking at my engagement photographs. The traditional engagement session includes two locations (in close proximity to each other to maximize golden hour timing) and two looks (two outfit/clothes changes). We will want to schedule the shoot to start an hour and a half before sunset.
Save-The-Date Engagement Session
$350
Some couples just want a simple, 30 minute session to get a few good photos for their save-the-date invites or social media. This is the least expensive of the three options and involves one look (one outfit) and one location. We will want to schedule it around sunset time to get the best light possible for your photos.
Locations
Let's talk locations! Santa Barbara has some of the best photography locations! The traditional engagement session comes with two locations. We will need to choose these two locations relatively close to each other since we are photographing during the golden light window (45 minutes - 1 hour each evening before sunset) in order to get the best lighting. The engagement photoshoot itself is 1.5 hours long, and can possibly go through sunset if we can pick two locations that minimize the drive time between them. Less drive time = more shoot time.
Popular locations around Santa Barbara include the beautiful south facing beaches, our Spanish architecture, the urban feel of Santa Barbara's downtown artisan district named the Funk Zone, the spacious outdoor feeling of the California chaparral covered mountains (perfect for couples who like hiking), the beautiful oak trees over the hill in the the Santa Ynez valley, and even the Santa Ynez vineyards. For a vineyard look, you would need to call to reserve a spot with one of the many vineyards in the Santa Ynez valley for approval to photograph on their property.
You can even get really artsy and creative with your location selections. With a little research you can find many unique places in and around Santa Barbara that tie in with your personality and what you love. Some more alternative location options include the local hot springs, night-time beach picnics, and even fire performers.
What To Wear
Here is all you need to know about clothing. I'll make this super fun and super simple. For the traditional engagement session, you will need at least two outfits. For the save-the-date engagement session, you will need one outfit.
The number one rule of clothes is to pick something you feel relaxed and comfortable in. Although we want to look nice, it's important to feel comfortable and feel like we can move. Movement and the feeling of being relaxed translate to better photographs than anything else. Whatever makes you feel sexy/handsome and fun. Girls most often know which cut of dress looks best on their body type, and guys know which nice pair of jeans fits them the best. I usually recommend to go with what you love, because you'll smile more authentically when you feel good knowing you look good.
As a general rule of thumb, I like to request my couples dress one step above what they would normally wear in that given situation. For example, if a guy would normally go out on a date in just a button up shirt and nice jeans, maybe throw a sports coat over it and some nicer shoes to dress it up. If a girl would wear a cute dress and flats, maybe throw nice heels in to take it up a step. Similarly, if a guy would go on a sunset walk in board shorts, maybe nice jeans rolled up with bare feet or khaki shorts wearing boat shoes to take it up a notch.
(Applies to Traditional Engagement Sessions) Bring one dressed-up outfit, and one dressed-down (more relaxed outfit). I like to shoot a more formal look, and end with a more relaxed look. For the girls, a pair of heels dresses up the outfit. The second look can also be with heels (because I love heels so much), or also with flats or barefoot (beach). I tend to leave the cut of the dress/outfit up to the girls since they know what cuts they look best in. I usually like to recommend the guys in nice jeans, dress shoes, and he can alternate between a nicer dress shirt and possibly a sports jacket for the first look (a little more dressier look). Then for the second look, move to a more casual shirt with the same jeans and nice dress shoes for a different, more relaxed feel.
Dress him to match you. His colors do not have to be the same as you. You can use complementary colors (ie, beige, white, tan, sage, etc). Lighter colors look amazing in Santa Barbara's background.
Try to stay away from really busy patterns like a lot of busy floral textures in dresses. No logos (such as brands printed on the tee shirts, etc).
Feel free to bring a bunch of clothes and we can sort it out when we get together before the shoot.
Quick tip around hair and makeup. Some brides use their engagement session as a great time to get their trial hair & makeup appointment done. By lining up your hair and makeup appointment before your engagement photoshoot, you can knock out two birds with one stone.
