Imagine showing up to your next session already knowing your couple so well that it feels like you’re photographing old friends (waaay less pressure, right?)

What would it feel like if your attention were on their love instead of the list of poses you tried memorizing in the car? Wouldn’t it be such a better experience for them and you if your confidence were sky-high because you weren’t nervous?

You may be here if you’re struggling with:

Getting your couple comfortable in front of the camera
Getting your sessions to just flow
Not feeling confident in your portfolio images and final galleries

I’ll keep these tips super quick and tangible, so you can implement them for your very next session!

Here are 3 ways you can work toward comfort, ease, and FUN being your session experience reality:

Getting to Know You Questionnaire

Throughout the process, I’m always asking tons of questions about their lives and love story! Before ever diving into planning the location, time, outfits, etc. for their session, I’m prioritizing getting to know THEM.

Make these questions fun and relatable, and share YOUR own answers to them, too. This helps them learn more about you and build a connection quickly. A few ideas to get your gears turning:

What’s the craziest adventure you two have been on together?
What words would your friends use to describe each of you? Your family? Your partner? Yourself?
What’s one big dream or goal you two have together?
What are your favorite ice cream flavors? (You know.. the important questions!)

Curious when I do this? In my first email response when I get their inquiry, I’m sending helpful info about investment and package details, of course, and also a few basic relationship questions (how they met, how the proposal went down, etc.) for them to respond to! Once they respond, then we dive into planning! When they’re booked, my first email is a fulllll getting to know you questionnaire to kick the party off! This is full of questions like the ones above. A lot of my couples end up making it a date night, too! How cute?!

Hands-Free 15

Keep those first 10 – 15 minutes of the session camera-less to focus on getting your couple comfortable. I recommend leaving your bag in the car while you say hi or not taking your camera out as you walk to your first location!

They’ll feel a bit nervous the moment they see the camera, so welcome them with hugs and big smiles as you explain how the session will go and share some tips and tricks!

This is the perfect time to reassure them that you’ll guide them through everything – their job is to just have fun and focus on each other!

Play off of their energy

A huge takeaway your couple will have is how well you played into THEIR emotions and energy.

If you can tell they’re a shyer couple, making them do piggyback rides first thing might make them feel super awkward. If they can’t stop cracking up over inside jokes, no need to chill them out with slow dancing.

I always try to find ways to insert different emotions and energy into the session to capture variety, but if it’s not right for them, no need to force it! They’ll appreciate a session that felt comfortable and natural to them way more than trying to get them totally out of their comfort zone just to get some cool photos.

Always ask yourself: Is this for ME or for THEM? Then shoot.

I can feel you gaining more confidence on how to improve photographing engagement sessions! Your couples are seeking out exactly who you are and what you offer. You CAN run a session built on comfort to allow space for real moments to happen. In doing that over and over, your portfolio will shine with images that scream fun, real, and authentic.