Hey there!
I'm Tara and the owner of Tara Welch Photography based out of Austin, Texas!
Tara Welch Photography has been in business for around 8 years now and I'm extremely grateful for my career. I started my career wanting to be a food photographer, but I'm predominantly a wedding and portrait photographer now.
Today I'm sharing a few images from one of my favorites things to shoot, engagement sessions!
There's a lot of great reasons to get engagement photos done and I think it's an incredibly important aspect of your wedding photography coverage.
I've seen a lot of trends over the years and it's taken me a long time to really cultivate my style and figure out what works for me.
I'm a Canon user and work with two Canon 5D Mark IIIs. My favorite lens is the Canon 85mm 1.2 L and I'm pretty much always using that lens or the Canon 50mm 1.2 L.
I also use the newest version of the Canon 24-70mm L lens which is a significant improvement over the last version.
I photograph my clients in a way that creates even, beautiful skin tone and try my hardest to flatter them. I edit using Adobe Lightroom and I do not use any special presets or filters besides basic ones I've created myself. It's beautiful but for me personally, I cannot rock the matte, flat look that is in style right now.
I need bright, colorful, punchy images y'all!
As you might notice, I love super colorful backgrounds. Many couples think they need to shoot their engagement session at a park or somewhere "nature-y", but I think the engagement session can be more interesting in other environments
I encourage couples to "think outside the park" (props to Taco Bell for helping me with that tagline) and pick a place or an area of town you enjoy.
The couple below really enjoyed grabbing coffee at cool cafes so we photographed part of their session at a gorgeous restaurant.
Side note on that, ALWAYS make sure you call ahead and ask specific permission to photograph inside a restaurant/bar/hotel. Going at a time of the day that is slow for the restaurant is both considerate and helpful for creating a good portrait. Please be a true patron of any restaurant you shoot within and I always try to leave a nice yelp review afterwards.
The couple below met at rad show at a local music venue in Austin so we arranged to shoot their engagement session there.
This couple is traveling America in an RV so they wanted to document their engagement by incorporating the RV!
This couple is getting married in the bride's native Missouri but the groom is a New Braunfels boy! We shot their engagement session at his family's home on the Guadalupe river.
Many couples want to include their beloved pets in the session. I adore this idea and think it's wonderful!
One thing that is helpful is if you can have a helper come with you or deliver your pet to you at the beginning or the end of the session. Pets rarely tolerate more than about 15 minutes of photos so it's nice to only include them for a little bit.
Got a creative idea? Use it! This bride below really wanted to do a 60's themed shoot!
Ladies, get your hair and makeup professionally done! It makes a world of difference!
Shoot at sunset if you can! Silhouettes can be great for Save the Date images!
Be yourself and have fun with your engagement photos! There's no need to stress out!
Hope you enjoyed seeing a few of these Austin engagement portraits!
COMPANY: Tara Welch Photography
WEBSITE: www.tarawelchphotography.com