You would like to have photos of you and your loved one, but not necessarily with wedding attire on. Because you’ll get those from the wedding anyway. Or maybe you already have them because you’ve been married for a while. Or… and of course this is also possible… you are not planning to get married for the time being. And yet you want to have beautiful photos, because you have arrived at a special point in your lives.
So you book a loveshoot. How can you prepare so that the photos will be exactly as you want them?
We would like to give some tips for your loveshoot
The first step, of course, is to find a wedding photographer who appeals to you in terms of style. You can opt for a more stylized style where you enlist the help of a stylist, make-up artist and/or hairdresser and a photographer who will give you some more instructions. We ourselves work in a way where we photograph as “light” as possible. That is, we visit with you two a place that has a lot of value for you and is often quiet in terms of people. That way we try to make the shoot as personal and intimate as possible.
1. What do you put on in terms of clothing?
Think about what clothes you want to wear during your loveshoot. Match your clothes and your partner’s clothes. That way the clothes don’t distract from the photos and all the attention goes to you and your emotion. Try to avoid large logos or texts and also consider the color of the clothing. A more natural environment blends beautifully with natural materials and colors, while an industrial or modern location quickly calls for some brighter colors.
Two sets?
If you want, you can also choose two sets of clothing. For example, some more casual clothing and casual clothes. Changing clothes is often done in the car, a thing to keep in mind since many natural areas do not necessarily have a good changing facility. This last option takes a little more time and may also make the shoot a little less relaxed, but it can be done.
2. Choose a location that means something to you
If at all possible, try to pick a location that totally fits who you are. If you like urban settings a lot, choose a city where you are familiar. If you like nature more, then a nature reserve, forest or “wild park” is a good option. Think ahead of time about what you want in terms of surroundings and how you feel about having multiple people “watching” your shoot. After all, in a forest you encounter fewer people than when you take your picture in the heart of Amsterdam, for example.
Into nature
We prefer to choose natural locations, because this is also calmer for us as a photographer. In a walk of an hour, an hour and a half, we just walk past some beautiful places and then take fine pictures for you. For example, Shaila and Rolf, whom you see below, had a lot of Japanese influences at their wedding and therefore wanted to reflect this theme during their loveshoot in the Japanese Gardens.
3. Choose a quiet photo location
Just a little reiteration of above, but so think carefully about what you want in terms of crowds. When taking pictures in Amsterdam, it’s hard to avoid the cyclists, tourists, cars and cabs. Of course, that can be fun for the photos as well, as long as you guys are fine with that.
Privacy
A quiet location can also make the shoot more relaxed overall. The more traffic and people: the more stress often. And the more quiet, the easier it often is to let yourself go a little. Just lovely chatting and laughing, because there are no people around to hear you anyway.
4. Go for an evening shoot
In terms of time, we recommend choosing, for example, an afternoon or an evening slot. When you choose the afternoon you have a little more options. For example, if it suddenly starts to rain, you can wait half an hour and then continue shooting. However, the light is harder at that time. So the alternative is an evening shoot.
Photoshoot at sunset
If you are lucky the sun is setting as you can see in these photos. The downside, however, is that sometimes you just don’t have a beautiful sunset. Although the light is then still beautifully soft, you don’t have that golden glow. In any case, it is something to think about carefully. These days we often schedule 2 moments for a loveshoot; two evenings in the same week. When we know that 1 of the evenings is going to be very nice in terms of weather, we go for that evening.
5. Plan your afternoon or evening off
Usually you agree on a time frame with your loveshoot photographer. For a loveshoot we plan 1 to 1.5 hours. But sometimes you just need a little more time, because you want to visit two locations or because you suddenly have a beautiful sunset at the end of the shoot. Hence, we recommend not making any fixed appointments after the loveshoot. Because this too can be stressful, when you suddenly see that you are in the middle of the woods, when you want to be with friends for dinner in 15 minutes.
6. Undertake an activity during the loveshoot
And one more tip, namely: undertake an activity. Often couples bring and picnic basket. It’s handy anyway because you then have something with you to sit on, but also handy to get rid of those initial nerves quickly. After all, sitting and eating and drinking is something anyone can do, right? We quickly take a few pictures and before you know it you have forgotten the clicking of the cameras and are completely relaxed.
Small summary
In summary, with every tip we give, we think it’s important that you go into that shoot relaxed. Because that way, you’ll get beautiful photos that totally match how you normally are too. Want to know more about our loveshoots? Then just click on this loveshoot – link : )
What can I do with all these pictures?
OK, one last tip. Those photos will allow you to get to know your wedding photographer in advance. Or wedding photographers of course ; ) In addition, you can use for the invitations, for example, for a decorative photo wall at the wedding or for a reception book.
Hang them on a wall
You can also use the photos to hang beautifully in your home. Maybe you think it’s a bit silly to hang a big wedding photo in your living room, but a beautiful photo of the two of you, in the wide open Dutch countryside, can be very nice to look at. In short: you can do very much with these loveshoot photos.
