You know what’s one of the saddest, but also one of the most common, things I hear from brides who to meet me? They flip through a sample album, nervously laugh and say “These has photos are amazing! I don’t know if I’m pretty enough to be an Impressions bride! 😥”. It makes me laugh, shake my head, and tell them that just about every bride that they’re in awe of had said the same thing to me when coming to book. Yes, many of my brides are stunning, but there is so, so much more to getting amazing photos than a beautiful face.
That’s why I decided to kick off my blog with Sarmilan and Thnuza’s engagement session. Yep - by all societal norms and standards, they far surpass your average looking couple, but that’s not why I would attribute them as having maybe my favourite set of engagement images ever. There are a lot of factors that contributed to them getting exceptional images, some of which I’m going to share below.
1) They did their research - watching along their snaps on the weeknights or weekends, you would see Sarmilan and Thnuza location scouting for weeks, even months. They went during the times that their shoot was planned to be to check out the light (photography enthusiasts are a plus as well, I should mention). And they were smart - it wasn’t the chore of wedding planning. They’d plan date nights around it and made it fun. Not all wedding planning needs to be stressful!
2) They invested... a lot - can you get beautiful photos on a budget? Absolutely! But having a specific vision in mind might require a bit of extra investment to make that dream come to life. Sarmilan and Thnuza styles themselves flawlessly for all of their eshoots that went along very well for the photos that they wanted. As stated above, they did their location scouting ahead of time and locked in permits in advance. And Thnuza worked with some of the best professional MUAH artists throughout all of her wedding events. It’s simple - you get what you put in.
3) They have amazing chemistry – when people hear about a couple having “amazing chemistry” in front of a lens, they think of couples being able to get sultry on camera. That’s truly not the case. Sarmilan & Thnuza’s comfort with each other and in front of me is shown through the variety of their photos. They definitely do have steamy photos (which is not easy for any couple to do, much less do well), but they also have some truly heartwarming candid happy photos, and picturesque GQ posed photos. Their spark shows in all forms, and that’s what I love most about their photos.
4) They trusted me – Thnuza and Sarmilan showed me what they liked and came with specific ideas for their shoot. But they worked with me and any ideas I had. I'll be the first one to admit that not every idea is a homerun, but more often than not, when couples really have faith and work with me, we make gold! They also persevered! It’s a little known fact that for every final image you see there are a bunch that you don’t. These two held poses, climbed trees, withstood gusty winds, and icy waterfalls, and so much more because they believed that great images would come from it. There are too many examples of that throughout Thnuza and Sarmilan’s shoot that prove that working together as a team brings forth amazing results!
A lot of things contribute to a successful engagement shoot but theirs would have been exceptional no matter what because of their preparation, investment, perseverance, and attitude. Remember, dreams don't work unless you do.... Take a look...
