We all know that certain times of year are prettier than others, but as a photographer, we don’t always have control over when we shoot things. Today I’m looking at shooting Winter engagement photos and how to make them look better. Taylor and Christian’s engagement session are a perfect example.
Shooting Winter Engagement Photos
In Winter everything looks cold and dead, making happy photos kind of difficult. There are a few ways to deal with this. One, find a park. Most parks look decent throughout the year. There should be something that is still alive. Many places have evergreen trees, so you can always use those as a backdrop. Once you have a spot, shoot early morning or later afternoon, so the sun is at an angle and creating a glowing background. If you’re still having trouble with the color, you can always adjust the temperature toward the warm side in post. If you are still struggling with this, you need to shoot creatively. Try shooting tight so you can’t really see the background. Add that with a low aperture and the background doesn’t even matter. Try doing a silhouette to darken the trees and subject and just leave the sky. You can also turn photos black and white and people won’t know what color the grass is.
I shot Taylor and Christian’s engagement photos back in mid November, so it was getting cold. We went to Prairie Grove Battlefield park, and it still had a lot of life to it. A lot of the trees still had color, and we found a lovely field with high grass. The sun was really working for us as well.
Shooting Winter engagement photos can be tough, but there are definitely ways to make beautiful photos in every situation. I think this is a big difference between a professional and an amateur photographer. I professional photographer should be able to take what is given, even if it’s difficult, and find a way to make it work.
