Chautauqua Engagement Portraits
It was a perfect, crisp, bright blue winter day for these Chautauqua engagement portraits. Mara and Michael were in town from L.A. for the holidays, so we got together to create some portraits before their big day in September.
Mara and Michael are film makers in L.A. I feel like that description bumps them up the coolness chart by 10.
We met near the parking lot of Chautauqua as cars were slip-sliding around on the ice. It was a warmer winter day, but the temperatures were starting to drop, and things were getting slippery.
We lucked out having snow in their Chautauqua engagement portraits because most of Colorado is dry as a bone. Nothing screams winter engagement portraits like snow, except for maybe bright red noses. Luckily we avoided those.
These two were so easy to photograph. They fell right into each other, at ease and totally natural. What a treat! I always tell clients, don’t overthink things! When you get in your head, that’s when you start to feel weird in front of the camera.
Instead, stay in the moment. Enjoy the time with your partner, joke around with your photographer and let loose. Don’t take it too seriously. I want to capture the real you, not the “you” you think you should show.
Engagement portraits are some of the most posed portraits. You probably haven’t been in front of the camera since you were a senior in high school. You’re feeling self-conscious, thinking “I have to kiss him in front of the camera? And all these people…in public?!”
So, yes, I do pose you, but I want you to fall out of those poses. Talk to each other, talk to me, move around. It’s not a static thing. I want to capture the movements and interactions, but there is a prompting that happens from me some of the time to get a genuine moment from you.
