Denise & Chris' Engagement

Denise & Chris will be getting married this fall at Laurel Creek Manor , one of the most beautiful venues around with a brides room that is to die for.


We shot their engagement photos at Tacoma's Union Station, after we (okay, just Chris) heard a marathon was going at our first choice, Pt. Defiance.

But I'm really loving what we came up with here...


Sometimes you have to initiate action into a shoot when there isn't any. That can be done any number of ways, and it can take some practice before you learn what style of communication works for you. You can jokingly suggest they swing each other around, you can outright ask them to do that, you can ask if THEY would like to do a shot with more movement. Everyone is different when they are being photographed, and the experience of working with you is every bit as important as how the photos turn out. In the picture above, I talked up how "cool this looks from here, and how it'd be neat if you guys could just, like, ..do yawanna pick her up and spin her??" Creativity doesn't always sound smooth...your mind is trying to get to one place, your mouth is having to work with the other side of your brain and when you are really flowing, you have idea after idea coming to mind and they are all great and you find yourself in the lovely position of having to choose what you FEEL like doing first. Your mouth comes last in terms of energy used when it's competing against feelings and creative ideas...

We had a good time shooting and we are going to have so much fun when the wedding day arrives. An engagement shoot is such a great opportunity to get familiar with what looks good. It's not that you're learning any new behaviors (why change?) but that you learn that you have certain aspects of your expression that stand out and should be showcased. And lots of times, the most complicated advice is to just have fun and don't worry. When you have fun, it's impossible for me not to capture that. Sometimes brides and fiances tend to "hold back" when their hubbies are trying to be goofy in front of the camera. As many times as you've heard the joke, humor him and just LAUGH and call him a dork and get in a play fight that ends with a hug and a kiss...and I'll get completely different pictures of you two than if you "hold back and give 'the look' " to him! lol Not that I don't know where you're coming from, just that you don't need an album full of "I was holding my breath" pictures, stiff and too aware of the camera...

To see their slideshow, click here.