Mt. Spokane Engagement Session; Posing Tips For Photographers

Okay so Mt. Spokane is truly one of a kind, you really can’t go wrong anywhere you shoot. Its gorgeous in every direction you look.

Here are a few of my go to posing tips to help you out at your next session!

-Always start off with movement. The first thing I start off doing is getting the couple moving! It can sometimes feel weird having a camera up close and personal right off the bat. So first things first, get your couple moving and having fun! Hold hands walking toward you, have them run in slow motion toward you, or you can always have them do a "drunk walk” toward you while keeping their faces as sober as possible lol!

-Secondly, after you’ve done a few shots with some movement. Bring them in for something a little more intimate! You can have them touch foreheads, have them touch noses, or even have them whisper something funny in their partners ear for a fun candid photo!

-Lastly towards the end of the session I always like to do some photos sitting. Depending on where your session is you can have your couple sit on a rock, or just right on the ground if they are up for it! I like to get them right in between their partners legs and then drape their legs across each other. Or they can sit right next to each other if they’re on a rock! Once they are in position have them snuggle in close, you can have one of them lean their head on the others shoulder & have them close their eyes for an even more intimate feel!

I hope these quick tips were helpful & gave you some tangible info for your next couples session! Don’t forget to make them feel as comfortable as possible by telling them how amazing they look even if that means telling them 100x like I do! :)

How to start out with photography: the things I recommend

I want to start off by saying, I’m not the best writer in the world, guys, so bear with me!! I started this blog in hopes to bring some of the knowledge I’ve gained over the past two years of starting AHP to YOU. I want to share everything I’ve learned so far to hopefully get someone else inspired & take the plunge into this photography world. I get questions about it all the time. How did you start your business? What kind of camera should I buy? How do I learn to shoot in manual? 

Well I wanted to talk a little bit about what I’ve learned. Now, I’m NO WHERE near perfect. There are so many things I want to accomplish & learn, but it’s just taking me some time. With being a stay at home mom it’s hard for me to get as much done as I’d like, & that’s okay. Being there for my clients & serving them well comes first, the fun stuff (like doing styled shoots, updating blog posts more often, etc..) will come with time & growth. I think that’s one of the biggest things to realize when you start this journey into photography, or any kind of craft/art. Success will not come overnight, it takes time. You have to just JUMP into it, take a leap of faith & know you are NOT going to be amazing when you first pick up your camera, & that’s okay! You’re not going to get 1,000 followers in a few months, it took me a whole YEAR. You’re never going to know everything, you should constantly be learning as a business owner/photographer. 

With all of that being said let’s dive into this. 

HOW TO START YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNEY:

1. You’ll definitely need a camera. I started off with a Canon 60D with a cheap 50mm 1.8 lens. What I recommend most with buying your first camera is to skip the kits. In my personal opinion, it would be be much more beneficial for you to find a used full frame camera and a cheap lens (50mm 1.8 lenses on amazon are around $200.00 here’s a link —-> https://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-STM-Lens/dp/B00X8MRBCW/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=50mm+lens&qid=1582306527&sr=8-3) it’s a fantastic starting lens. A good full frame camera that you guys can find would be a canon 6D (they are relatively cheap used, probably around $500-$600 on Adorama). If a full frame is just too expensive right now, canon 60D or 80D (I bought mine for $400 used on the facebook marketplace) are great options as well, even though they are crop sensors they are great to start out with.

2. After you get your camera, I suggest signing up for your monthly membership with Lightroom. It’s $9.99 a month & you will have access to Lightroom, Photoshop & other fun things that I actually don’t even use (haha). You will need both, to learn how to edit your photos. There are many recourses out there for you to learn how to edit a photo. How you decide to edit (your editing style) will be your preference, how you want a photo to look is completely up to you! I started off using presets & watching a TON on youtube videos on how to tweak the specific preset that I bought, from there my style of edited has changed a ton & yours will too! It all takes time & I still feel like I am discovering new things I like, when it comes to my style, every day.

3. Okay, after you have your camera & after you have Lightroom all set up you’ll want to make sure you have a good client management system to collect money, send out invoices/contracts & to keep track of it all. It’s very important to stay organized. I highly recommend signing up for Honeybook. I use it & I couldn’t run my business without it. I will be doing a blog post on Honeybook in the future, to give you my discount code & more info on how I use Honeybook. If you want the discount code now, DM ME!

4. After you have Honeybook set up you’ll want to create a website. I set my website up through Squarespace, it’s super user friendly, & they have templates for you to choose from. 

5. Once you have your website up can create your Instagram & Facebook page under your business name. 

6. Once you have that set up I then recommend signing up for some sort of client gallery delivery system (I think is what you could call it haha), when I first started I signed up for Pixieset. That way when you are delivering photos to your clients, it will be delivered to them through a gallery that they can download the photos from, share & also buy prints through!

7. Once you are ready to start booking clients you’ll want to make sure you’re a legal entity before accepting money from anyone. I contacted a local CPA & they gave my steps on the process. You can either become a sole proprietor or LLC. I recommend taking to a CPA to see what they recommend, you’ll need one in the future anyway to help you with taxes later on! The steps I took to become a LLC were: register your name with your state, get an EIN, set up a business bank account & then get business insurance (I use USAA).

8. Once you are officially a business (licensed and insured) you can  start advertising & collecting money. When I first started I hustled my butt off. I reached out to anyone I could to do free shoots, along with mini sessions I held at $30.00 (SO CHEAP), but it was because I was still practicing & learning from every shoot I did. It was a time for growth & experimenting! I learned my camera, I practiced my editing style, I practiced shooting in all kinds of light (during the day, golden hour, and morning). I brought my camera EVERYWHERE!

9. One of the last tips I have for you new business & for yourself is to find a mentor. Find another photographer that you LOVE & ask to shadow them, or second shoot with them, reach out & see if you could help them with something. Anything! Ask for advice. Never stop learning & serving your clients to your best ability & success with come.

SOOOO, those are the steps that I have, I hope this has helped you to start your dream business! I know you probably have more questions now. What editing style do I like? What youtube videos should I watch to learn more? TAXES?! I can answer these questions some other time (in another blog post). If you have a specific question, please reach out to me! Id love to talk to you more. I remember when I was first starting out I was so intimidated by asking a well established photographer questions. I WANT your success, I want you to feel confident going into photography, this industry is hugeeee & EVERYONE needs photos. Never hesitate to reach out to me, because I will always be here for you!

Thanks so much for reading this far!! You are amazing & you only have this one life, DO WHAT YOU LOVE, work hard for it & the success will come.

how to stay warm for your engagement session

rea & eric were so much fun! we instantly clicked & had the best time at their shoot!

I was thinking about what exactly I wanted to share for this blog post, & as I was going through the photos I figured it might be a good idea to fill you guys in on just how to stay warm for your winter engagement session (because lets be real, there’s snow on the ground right now, & its COLD). you want to wear something cute that might involve not wearing a huge puffy jacket amiright?!

well let me help you out with some tips on how to stay warm for your winter engagement shoot.

1. BRING a big puffy jacket for both of you. you can wear it in between shots. there will be much more walking involved than you would think in getting to that perfect spot for THE shot! while you are walking warm up as much as you can with that jacket!

2. blankets are always a great idea! please feel free to bring a blanket to a shoot. for rea & erics engagement session I ended up bringing a fluffy white blanket because I knew it was going to be cold (they can cuddle up in the blanket for a cute shot) & I wanted to also get some shots of them sitting on it too, so it worked out perfectly. if your photographer doesn’t have a go to blanket they bring on sessions, ask if you can bring one!

3. get some coffee (hot of course)!! yes I said it, bring your favorite coffee from starbucks to your session. warm your hands between shots!!

4. last but not least, bring gloves/mittens!! i know they may not be the cutest BUT if you bring gloves to your snowy engagement session, there’s a great chance I might have you throw snow on your partner & that always makes for a fun photo. ANOTHER thing, your hands are always the first to get FREEZING, if you can prevent that as much as possible, you’ll be so happy!

Okay guys, I hope that helps you in the future. winter shoots can be so much fun, & its always so so nice when you are warm in the process of getting those fun snowy shots!

trusting your photographer’s vision

you guys, let me tell you. when I have a client that fully puts their trust in my vision & goes with the flow, they get some amazing photos. alex + emitt did just that! the day of their engagement session called for rain, & as I always like to do, I checked in with them to make sure they were okay with that. i let them know that I have clear umbrellas just in case it does start pouring, & they were totally cool! I personally love shooting in rainy overcast weather & when my couples are up for an adventure in the rain it makes for some fun photos!

the session ended up going soooo well (actually didn’t even rain)! they were so great the entire session & kept saying they were totally open to doing any posing or fun prompts I threw at them (which got my creative juices flowing even more than normal)!

we ended up getting some amazing shots, the day was great & we had such a fun adventure. i’m so so lucky to have such amazing clients that fully put their trust in my vision & are up for an adventure!