By Monique
Scott and I had a blast doing Allison and Oliver’s Lake Tahoe engagement pictures at Sand Harbor in last week. We met at the state park in the early evening to take advantage of the softer light in the later afternoon, and it was pre Labor Day, so we practically had the whole place to ourselves on a Wednesday afternoon. Engagement photography sessions are a great way for us to connect with a couple. They really get to see how easy going both Scott and I are during a shoot, and this sets the stage for the wedding day photography as well. With our career backgrounds as a newspaper and Associated Press photojournalists, we like to bring the balance of capturing the moment with fine art portraiture to each engagement session. We use a combination of skills, camera angles and lenses to capture each couple in the natural environment, from strictly documentary lifestyle photojournalism, to giving them some minimal direction with certain poses to obtain a little more polished look for some of the fine art images that result from the portrait session.
Allison and Oliver at Sand Harbor for their engagement photography session. I love the giant granite boulders that give Lake Tahoe photography its signature back drop.
Oliver and Allison share a moment overlooking the clear blue water at Sand Harbor.
Engagement photography can be a great “practice run” before the wedding for the couple to get comfortable with sharing intimate moments together in front of the camera.
Sand Harbor has a great pathway all the way around the point for a lot of candid engagement photos of the couple.
Adding some nice shots of a couple looking right into the camera lens is a must with any portrait session.
Every time I go to Sand Harbor, I find a new backdrop, that is part of staying fresh, always looking for new image ideas.
Sometimes the setting is the main subject, especially with such a spectacular location as Lake Tahoe, and then capturing the couple’s interaction within this setting tops off the image.
I like using a long lens to capture intimate moments within the backdrop, it adds a certain “feel” to the image.
Allison and Oliver were so much fun during their engagement photography session. They didn’t think twice when I asked them if they wanted to get a little wet!
A nice closer to end Allison and Oliver’s Lake Tahoe engagement photography session.
