In a first for me, I brought a second shooter to an engagement session. Normally that would be overkill, but when it’s your brother and sister-in-law to-be I figured why not! Justin and I were scheduled to be in Michigan shooting a wedding already and since he’ll be shooting their wedding next spring we decided to schedule Erica and Cody’s engagement photos in Royal Oak. The session ended up producing a set of the most colorful engagement photos I could have imagined.
The only required location on our list was Red Run Golf Club where Cody works as PGA pro. So we chased the light around the course and made some of our own. When Justin and I shoot weddings together we usually take turns finding portrait spots and that’s how we approached this session. It was a great way to push ourselves to find unique perspectives.
We did a quick outfit change before leaving the club. We didn’t have any specific destinations in mind around downtown Royal Oak so we did a walking/driving tour looking for interesting locations with light and color. We got a beautiful sunset view from the top of a parking garage. The final image of the night was definitely a team effort. Justin moved a trash can for Erica and Cody to stand on while lighting them from a hidden position. I was several hundred feet away (barely a gap wedge for Cody) to be able to get the composition I wanted.
It’ll probably be a while before I have a second shooter for an engagement session again, but it was a lot of fun to pull out all the stops and make such colorful engagement photos for Erica and Cody. It’ll be a little strange to be on the other side during their wedding, but I know they’re in great hands!
