Sweet In Home Engagement Photos with your Dog / Daria + Zach
If you’re looking for an easy idea for your engagement photos, look to this sweet and fun in home session I photographed of Daria and Zach with their pup. Typically the couples I photograph get married in the mountains, so for their engagement session they often like to opt for something other than a hike in the mountains, and I love the idea of getting more variety of shots. We chatted about ideas and landed on an in home session. This way they could easily incorporate their dog Snoop, infuse their personality and capture their current home.
When preparing for an in home session I always tell couples to consider what might be some ordinary life moments they’d like to capture that would tell a bit more of their story. Sometimes we overthink this and feel it has to be something grand or super special or extra for the sake of photos. But really, those simple every day things you find yourself doing are special. And they are often the things we tend to overlook and not document. But if you’re like me, in 50 years you would love to remember what your first home looked like, how cute your dog was, your dance parties in the kitchen.
For Daria and Zach that meant, sharing a glass of wine, playing with Snoop, dancing in the kitchen and making each other laugh. Which was perfect considering in my initial questionnaire with them, when I spend some time getting to my couples, I asked them to descried their relationship and they wrote, “You can often find us laughing, dancing, and singing around the house.” They also of course had to include Snoop since like every dog parent they are obsessed with him, as they said everyone else was too, which since meeting him I 100% understand. I was ready to take him home with me.
If you’re planning an in home session for your engagement photos, or just because, I’ve got a few tips for you.
Tips for your in home engagement session:
Pay attention to which rooms gets the most natural light at different times of the day. You’ll want to plan for plenty of natural light in the rooms you prefer to have photographed.
Once you and your photographer have nailed down which rooms you’ll shoot in, tidy those rooms. Don’t go overboard though, we of course want it to look like you live there! We just don’t want it so messy that it’s distracting.
Plan on a more casual outfit, being too dressy will feel a bit unnatural in this setting.
Before your shoot, as you go through a normal day, take note of which things you think represent your life and relationship in this stage. Do you make a latte everyday? Do you always sit and snuggle on one part of the couch? When cooking do you always blast music and sing along? When you walk in the door do you always exchange a long hug? Do you tend to a garden? Do you read books/play games/share a hobby together? Are you obsessed with making sourdough? Does your dog always love to snuggle at your feet? Consider how you can incorporate these things into your photo session!
If you’re including your dog, don’t worry about picture perfect moments looking at the camera. Let them behave and interact normally, this way the most genuine photos can be captured. Also who doesn’t love a photo bomb of a doggy butt?
Snap one photo in front of your house. They are timeless and I promise you won’t regret it.