A couple walks hand in hand down a city street at dusk, smiling and talking, with shops lining either side of the pedestrian avenue under a wide, open sky.
|

EXETER ENGAGEMENT SHOOT WITH CHARLOTTE AND BRAD

Engagement photography is one of my favourite forms of photography as it allows the couple to get to know me, for me to cease to be the photographer and instead become “a friend with a camera”. As I have mentioned before this can have many beneficial effects on the photos when it comes both the pre-wedding shoot and the wedding day itself as it allows for natural, authentic, relaxed photos.

For this engagement shoot we went to Exeter. I had wanted to get a photo of Charlotte and Brad with the iconic Exeter Cathedral in the background but it was not meant to be. I arranged to meet Charlotte and Brad at the front of the cathedral but when I arrived I had to quickly re-arrange my thinking. Unbeknown to me Exeter Cathedral was experiencing a face lift and someone had parked a piece of machinery at the front of the building so it was not going to be possible to get the photo I wanted,  time to think again. On the way to meet the couple I had walked past the back of the cathedral and noticed both the position of the sun and a small wall which was just tall enought to stand my couple on and this is what I got.

  • A couple kisses in the foreground with a sunlit backdrop featuring a historic tower and bare trees, evoking a romantic, serene setting. helen chapman photography watermark is visible.
  • A joyful couple smiling outdoors with the man kissing the woman on the cheek, both dressed in winter clothing with a historical building and bare trees in the background.
Exeter Cathedral pre-wedding photography

One thing I always like to do with my couples in any engagement shoot, especially if I am meeting them for the first time, is to show them the back of the camera when I have taken a couple of photos.  This I find, helps put them at ease with me as the photographer and helps to establish what the couple like and don’t like.  I can then tweak the photos, and my approach, if needed so it more closely reflects their vison of their pre-wedding photos and when it comes to the wedding day I now know exactly what my couple will love.

When I showed Charlotte and Brad the photos on the back of the camera they were over the moon and really enthusiastic to take more, and with that assurance in place we set off on our photo walk around Exeter.