As mentioned in our previous post on the subject, pre-wedding sessions are important for such a variety of reasons.
They’re a time for the couple and photographer to get to know each other before the big day, but they’re also about having a little bit of fun, trying out locations and ideas, and experimenting.
As most of you know a large part of Layton’s photography is nocturnal, with some of his most creative images captured during the early hours of the morning or late at night. So when it came time to plan Natalie and Colin’s pre-wedding session we figured why not try something different and do a night-shoot.
As you can see from the collection below, we tried a couple of different things throughout the session. We really have to thank Natalie and Colin for being so open to our crazy ideas and for going with the flow (and putting up with the pre-Christmas hecklers). It gave us great insight for their wedding day.
Aside from the usual information-gathering shots (the ones that really set us up for a successful wedding day), these sessions also allow time to experiment. We get to try the fun and crazy shots (depending on how you look at it), such as this one which Colin quickly captioned “this is how it happened, I swear” – although I think we decided in the end that perhaps proposing in a dirty old alley may not have been the most romantic choice:
Another type of shot we have the freedom to try during these sessions is the ‘not-really-sure-if-this-will-work’ shots such as the one below. Based on a combination of Colin’s Monty Python-inspired ‘silly walk’ and a Beatles-inspired pedestrian crossing backdrop, we came up with a series of shots to create this little number:
Of course experiments are just that and they don’t all work the way you want them to. Natalie and Colin swapped places to try her version of the same photo, but the effect was lost in translation. That’s the thing about pre-wedding sessions, there’s no pressure. While we want to make sure to capture some great images, we also have a little more freedom to experiment.
So with a second note of thanks to Natalie and Colin for being such great models, here are a few more shots from their session. Enjoy, and keep an eye out in the next few days for their wedding images.
Are you either a photographer that offers pre-wedding sessions or a client who’s recently had a session with your photographer? How did you find it? Share your experience and let us know what you think of them.
