Welcome photographer Meghan McSweeney! Her guest post about personalizing your engagement portraits and building a trusting relationship with your photographer follows, and all of the totally fun photos are hers. Makes me want to get engaged just to model for a whimsical engagement shoot! Enjoy.

First off, I have to say that there are so many different shooting styles and approaches to an engagement shoot. My way is simply one of many, so I'd like to share how I help my brides and grooms add a personal touch to their engagement shoot.
I approach my engagement session as a great way to get to know my clients and for them to get to know me better. After all, we are going to be spending the biggest day of their lives together! It's during the engagement session that we get used to how the other one works while shooting or "posing," which is a fabulous thing.

In order to make their engagement session truly their own, I always get to know their story. I send out a full questionnaire that asks what my clients like to do together, how they met, their favorite colors, their style... really too many details to mention here but it just helps me get down to the nitty gritty of the couple. It helps me to know how they interact, what their interests are and what's most important to them as a couple i.e. their family, their group of friend, their animals.

For example, I recently shot Jillian and Ben, who initially met in high school, as they both played the viola in orchestra. Ben was the "big shot" senior, and Jillian, a sophomore, sat behind him. They spoke briefly from time to time when dropping off their violas in the orchestra room. Some minor flirtation ensued but nothing terribly serious. After the holidays, they had seating auditions and suddenly Jillian found herself sitting by Ben and becoming stand partners. They began hanging out more and it became apparent to their orchestra teacher Mrs. Gordon that they were each nursing crushes. Mrs. Gordon suggested to Ben that he ask Jillian to prom and she said yes- the rest, as they say, is history! We had a great time incorporating the violas into their session.
As for John and Sarah, they met after Sarah made a last minute decision to head to the Outerbanks for the weekend. John was the first person she saw when she walked in the door and over the weekend, they clicked- even finding out that Sarah had recently ordered products from his logo company. As the bride likes to tell it:

About 3 weeks later, Sarah desperately needed a logo design and t-shirts, but she hadn’t heard from John yet and didn’t want to appear like a stalker. Taking a chance, she Googled his company and gave him a call. After a briefly awkward moment, John asked, “so, did you get the package I mailed you?” Sarah answered, “no.” John asked: “so how did you get my number?” Later that day, John’s package arrived, with a nice note and a few of his company pens. Yes, they both had the sparkles.
Kuba Kuba was a favorite spot as the couple, so it made perfect sense to include it in the shoot.
The best part of shooting an engagement session that is fun and personalized is that by the time their wedding day rolls around, I feel like I am working with friends. This helps with everyone's comfort levels, and gives me more access to telling the story of the day. Since they have already seen the results from the engagement session, I have built a level of trust with my clients so that not once throughout their day do they have to worry about their photography!
Meghan McSweeney is a Virginia based Wedding and Portrait Photographer who loves capturing a bride and groom on their wedding day. She studied under the renowned portrait artist Joyce Wilson at the Brooks Institute of Photography. Her style is founded on photojournalistic principles and takes cues from modern editorial and fashion work. She adores a good espresso and all things Italian- whether it be food, leather or a fabulous pair of shoes.
Meghan McSweeney Photography
Meghan McSweeney
www.meghanmcsweeney.com
meghan@meghanmcsweeney.com
804.647.9412