Christian and Deanna’s engagement session at Rutgers Gardens was full of warmth, laughter, and just the right amount of spring bloom. We worked around nature’s timing to find the perfect pockets of color—and the result was a collection of images that feel relaxed, romantic, and real.
Read MoreSimple and Beautiful | A Pine Lake Park Engagement Session | Richard J Nieves Photography
One of the skills you must have as a wedding photographer is the ability to guide a pose from clients that is authentic and characteristic of them and their relationship.
I’d say it’s honestly the most difficult tasks as a photographer, especially a wedding photographer who works with different people on a regular basis.
You want to show and celebrate the couple’s love for each other and show their viewers that this couple absolutely loves each other.
How do you do that?
What I do is set my expectations. Essentially, I completely demolish them going into a session. I immediately have stories in my head, as I work my couples, that I want to see. I’m driven by cinema. I turn their session into a short film and I figure out the way the story is going to go through photography. The story is of the couple just being together. Loving each other as only they know how.
Simple and beautiful. How do I convey a simple and beautiful rendition of their love through my eyes?
Those are the thoughts and roads my mind goes through as I’m working with couples.
Maggie and Kevin's Engagement Session
Karina and Zach's Engagement Session | Sandy Hook, NJ
For engagement sessions, I recommend my couple’s choose a place that means something to them. I want the place to help jog memories they enjoy and that will allow us to build up those feelings as we photograph together.
Karina and Zach chose Sandy Hook because it was the location of their first date. It was a great choice.
It was my first time going there. I was truly in awe at how serene it was at the time.
FYI if you want to get into the beach area we were in, you need to pay $20. They take cash, card, and contactless payment!