As you prepare for your wedding day photography one of the best things you can do with your photographer is have an engagement session. Some of the benefits of doing an engagement session are:
- You get to know your photographer better.
- By practicing some key poses you are better prepared for wedding day photography.
- This session will help you feel more comfortable in front of the camera.
- Of course, you will receive lots of fun photos to remember your courtship.
- Many people use the photos in their save the date cards or for additional printed material on wedding day.
- It is lots of fun. Just look at some of the photos below.
With all these benefits in mind it makes sense to plan accordingly to get the most out of your engagement session. Here are some points to ponder if you are planning your engagement session with Matt Mason Photography:
Kristen and Jim and I all met up at the Westosha Airport near the town of Wilmot, WI. It was a fabulous day and one of my favorite engagement sessions ever! You see Jim is a pilot and we agreed it would be fun to shoot with one of the small aircraft he is able to fly. What an incredible experience. While it was a bit warm the skies were breathtaking. We had fun shooting some modelesque photos with the planes and then we headed onto the tarmac which was my favorite spot! Then we had wild flowers in a field. An old shed and they had their Yellow Lab! Take a look at the photos. Here is the link: Westosha Airport Engagement Photos.
Kristie & Conor flew me to Washington, DC to shoot their engagement session. It was a quick overnight trip and we had perfect weather the Monday I arrived. It was so fun to walk around DC and take photos with limitless backdrops. I must have walked 10 miles before during and after our time together.
Check out the photos below for a quick peak. Or you may follow this link: Washington DC Engagement Session.
Meet Cassy and Frank. They are getting hitched on October 15th and we decided to get the engagement photos done in the middle of February. Winter engagements always present a bit of a challenge because it can be cold and windy. But we picked a pretty good day to shoot. Not too cold or windy. Although my fingers were numb by the end of the shoot.
Grand Geneva is one of my favorite cold day locations because there are beautiful places to shoot all the way around the hotel. If it gets too cold we can go inside to shoot for a bit and then go back out for more scenic locations.
Below are some sample images from the shoot.
Emily and Sam, rockstars for sure, met up with me on a mild February day in Lake Geneva. Our goal had been to get some photos doing one of their favorite winter activities...Ice Skating. Unfortunately the rinks we had planned to check out were drained or unusable. So we improvised. We found a smooth spot on Geneva Lake and where able get the shots we wanted. I like that we were able to use a Lake Geneva icon...The Riviera as a back drop for their photos. Then we climbed over a wall...
Ericka and Kyle are getting married at the Starline Factory in Harvard, IL This historic building takes up 5 blocks and the reception portion of the building will hold around 500 or more guests. The rustic and charming nature of the converted warehouse looks like a great place to host a wedding.
We decided to shoot Ericka and Kyle's engagement portrats in this building and it made for a wonderful new location to shoot! With large windows the natural light is incredible!
Sometimes when it is just too cold to do an outdoor engagement shoot we will go over the Grand Geneva to do the shoot. There are so many beautiful spots to shoot at the Grand! Jesse and Elizabeth are a wonderful couple and it was a pleasure to spend some time with them while shooting these portraits. In this case we were able to combine both indoor venues as well as some outdoor spots and I happened to be shooting a holiday party that night so we set up my photobooth early and we were able to get some fun studio shots as well. It was so much fun. Check out the prop photos and the twister pose! Below are some of my favorite images from the shoot. If you would like to view more hi-res follow this link. Grand Geneva engagement photos in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Shooting engagement sessions is always a blast. However, this one was particularly wonderful for me. You see October proved to be the busiest month of the year and while on one hand I felt like I had no time to go to Baraboo, WI and Devil's Lake to shoot this session, getting out in the fresh air and hanging out with these two was more refreshing than I would have ever imagined.
We hiked up the mountain to find the place where Phil proposed to Shey. All of us consider ourselves active and athletic and at first wouldn't admit to wanting to stop and take breaks until I broke the ice and asked to take a moment, pretending that my gear was weighing me down. We took shots on the cliffs, along the paths, on top of boulders, fallen trees, the railroad tracks and more. Here are the photos from the session that became a wonderful break within a busy time for me.
Take a Porsche, Streblow Classic Boat, a beautiful day, Yerkes Observatory, Lake Geneva and a cool couple add music and mix well to create an unforgettable Fusion session. Torye & Tom are a wonderful couple who obviously were made to be together. We started the engagement session at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay. Their package called for a Fusion Video so we shot video clips along the way. On the way from Williams Bay to Fontana, Max shot out the back of my Honda Element capturing the couple driving Tom's Porsche 911. What a sweet ride that is!
Then we met up with some friends of theirs and rode alongside them as they took their Streblow, "West End Girl" for a spin. (A Streblow is a much desired and much loved wooden boat brand.) Watching the Fusion Video is worth it just to see the pure joy and satisfaction on Torye and Tom's faces as they power by on their beautiful wood boat!
Saturday March 6, 2010, I had the distinct honor to shoot Rachel Starks and Luke Parker's wedding. They were married at the Wright House in Mesa, AZ. Rachel's dad, Rory, had a tremendous impact on me as I started out in my professional life and so it was even more special for me to be able to not only attend but provide some of the happiest memories that Rachel and Luke could ever have through photography.
To view images from their wedding follow this link.
Rachel and Luke are stylish and very cool. I was fortunate enough to get to spend the morning with them the day before their wedding shooting their engagement photos in the dessert and we shot some gritty urban photos as well. Follow this link to see their engagement photos.
For a quick preview continue.
