This blog post is part 1 in a 3 part series about what to expect from a photoshoot with Janelle & Co. Keep an eye out for part two coming out next week!

Leading up to your photoshoot, we’ll chat a lot to make sure you’re ready! Here are some quick tips for planning your photo session.

Pinterest Ideas

Putting together a Pinterest idea board is a great way to gather ideas you want to include in your photography session. It’s a great way to find resources! I love when clients go through my Pinterest boards and add ideas they love, from it and others, to a new board they share with me. It let’s me get a feel for the kind of session you want and if you’re more playful, more traditional, or adventurous. Be aware though, that’s its not always possible to recreate each image, nor is it always a lot of fun! We’ll keep ideas in mind while flowing through what works best for your outfits and the location we’ve picked together.

Choosing a Location

Unless you already have a specific location in mind for your engagement, elopement, or wedding, I’m happy to lend you ideas of places I’ve loved photographing couples. If you have specific requests for scenery, we’ll want to chat about those details and choose places that fit in your desires. Things to note are places that have water, sand, green grass, fields, mountains, flowers, waterfalls, etc. Other things we’ll want to talk about is how willing you are for extra traveling. These are all important to know when recommending locations. Once we choose a location, we’ll discuss a date and time that will give you the best photos!

Adding in meaningful elements

Because your love story is unique, your photos should be too! We’ll discuss if there are any activities, props, etc that you want to include in your photos. This could be as small as a special token, or as big as renting a canoe and doing photos in a lake because you love outdoor recreation. These things make your photos even more special to you and stand out from the rest. If you have an activity or token that helped bring you together, or that you love together now, we should include it!

Choosing Your Outfits

Choosing your outfit for your engagement session, or other couples photos is so important to the general feel of your photos. They should make sense with your background and activities we’re doing. I talk more about this in my post: WHAT TO WEAR FOR YOUR ENGAGEMENT SESSION but my top tips are: Be comfortable and authentic; bring more than one outfit; and add textures, patterns, and layers.