Do Photographers Make for Terrible Clients?
When I proposed to my now fiancé in May 2021, the entire event was centered around a landscape sunset photoshoot that I had staged at a family lake house. For her this was commonplace, as we often travel with a tripod setup and use a timer or remote to capture photos of the two of us. This time, however, yours truly “bent the knee” (Game of Thrones anyone?) and asked her to spend forever with me. She said yes, and the two of us would spend the next several months frantically trying to pull together a wedding in post-covid rush less than a year away.
In the months that followed, I committed to the idea of doing my own actual engagement shoot rather than let our wedding photographer handle it for us. While he was more than qualified and capable, what I wanted in our engagement shoot was beyond the scope of what I was comfortable asking him to do. Given the uniquely adventurous lifestyle my fiancé and I shared, a part of me felt that our engagement photos would be unnatural if that lifestyle was not reflected within them.
My first plans for the shoot would find us driving at least an hour away to some of our favorite adventure destinations in the greater Philadelphia area. I envisioned hiking up the side of a mountain in the Delaware Water Gap to catch the sunrise, but realized that I was guaranteed to be covered in sweat by the time we reached the top (not the best look for a save-the-date card). I then tinkered with the idea of doing something with rock climbing, but once again realized they wouldn’t make for great pictures.
Feeling I was on the verge of biting off more than I could chew, I decided it best to return to where it all began; the lake house. I had every single shot clearly arranged in my mind; the props, angles, and compositions as vivid as tangible photo prints laid out before my very eyes.
Landing the First Composition
It was on a return flight home from a vacation to Florida when the pieces all started coming together, and my mind was finally made up. The very next morning (less than 12 hours after our arrival in PHL) we woke up at 5AM and headed out towards the lake. I spent about an hour setting up my tripod/lighting elements in anticipation of the sunrise that was cautiously inching its way over the horizon, but never quite coming through.
After spending what felt like our entire morning staring at the horizon waiting for the sun to break, it the moment was nearly upon us. I set up my tripod, started the auto-fire, and my fiancé and I jumped into a canoe and paddled out into frame…
I was pleased with how the photos turned out, all things considered. My fiancé and I aren’t the type you would find living moments found in your typical engagement photos. E.g. – kissing up against a fence, holding hands frolicking through a random field, embracing in the middle of a random forest, etc. This moment reflects us in our true element; both literally and figuratively.
The Second Composition – Peak Sunrise
I knew that I wanted more than one photo to be featured on this save-the-date card (which at this point was becoming quite the burden thanks to pressure from our parents). My second composition was one that I wanted to feature the actual sunrise in the background, which is always a challenge any time you want something more than a silhouette shot. I re-rigged my setup to account for the sun in the background and throw light onto the two of us, and back we went into the canoe for the second series…
And now we’re done! It’s always so much harder to take good photos when you are also the subject, but a little patience paired with experience can still get the job done! I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to my future in-laws, who were generous enough to wake up early with us and lend a hand where/when we could not!