We met Baldev at his best friend’s wedding last year. Soon after that wedding, Baldev called us to let us know he was getting married and he instantly booked our Labor Day weekend for his multi-day wedding. Since Heena is Hindu and Baldev is Sikh, they planned on doing both ceremonies, as well as, have a reception the night of the Hindu wedding.
I was so excited when Baldev chose to do their engagement photos at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. This beautiful garden is just a couple miles from our studio and is a magical place. I love the zen feeling we get at Japanese gardens. They are very calming and well planned out, which makes photography extra special at these sacred spots.
Our engagement shoots are a lot of fun and offer a lot of value to our couples. First and foremost, they get to spend some time together and take a break from all the stressful planning and get to have some time alone. Taking photos together that are professionally shot, lit, and properly posed means they get to have images for their social media, wedding website, guestbook, canvas prints at the reception, and much much more!
We also like to think of it as a “get to know you session” where instead of just talking, we actually get to get out and create some images. When we see the shots we especially like, we know what will work really well on the wedding day. It also provides an opportunity for the couple to get that “time in front of the camera” so that on the actual wedding day, they are more used to us and the cameras are familiar with the process of image making.
We don’t necessarily pose all that much, but we do direct. We give the couple some basic guidelines of where to stand, how to position their bodies etc, but then we encourage them to do what comes natural and that is how we capture a majority of our images. Sometimes we will step in to give more direction as needed, but also we will stand way back and let things occur completely natural if it looks like that is how we are capturing the best images.
If you want to do an engagement session with us, give us a shout! We don’t necessarily even have to shoot your wedding but we encourage you to have us do both as we love to build that relationship and have it carry over to the most special day of your life. Contact us today for rates and availability!
