This session is also a rehearsal for the wedding day. You learn how you're together in one frame. Quiet, close, without looking posed. What comes out of it aren't poses, but images that feel like you. Here are the five things that make the difference. Plus one extra tip most people forget.
1. Choose a location that suits you
Not one that merely looks pretty. A place where you feel at ease makes images that read as more genuine than any carefully chosen backdrop. Vienna offers plenty: the Volksgarten with the Theseus Temple for architecture and greenery, the Laxenburg castle park for space and light, the first neighbourhood you lived in together, the terrace of your favourite hotel.
If no location comes to mind, tell me what defines you as a couple. I suggest specific places I know that work photographically. Often the best images have a backdrop the couple would never have thought of themselves.
2. Outfit: less is more, comfort first
The outfit should not distract from you but support you. Muted, understated colours work best: beige, taupe, black, off-white. They keep the focus on you and look more timeless than bold tones. Highly saturated colours like red or orange can cast onto the skin, especially in direct light.
Bringing two outfits is a good idea: a slightly more elegant one and a more relaxed option. The most important thing remains: wear something you already feel good in. A new outfit you have never worn brings uncertainty into the frame. Comfortable shoes for the walking aren't a compromise but sensible.
3. Plan the right time of day
Light is everything in photography. The soft light just after sunrise or in the two hours before sunset, the golden hour, makes the biggest difference. Midday sun creates hard shadows and flattens faces. For summer dates that often means early morning or from 18:00. In autumn and winter the window shifts. I always plan the time around the best light of the day.
4. Trust the flow, even when it feels slow
Most couples think they have to do something in front of the camera. The opposite is true. The best images happen in the moments in between: when you talk to each other, when one makes the other laugh, when you simply walk. I guide you calmly through the session, without directions that feel like stage-managing. Plan enough time; two hours is a good basis.
5. Bring what belongs to you
A small detail can tell a story, and it need not be anything grand. Your dog. A bottle of wine you drank on your first date. The jacket you have been borrowing for years. These details make images personal in a way no pose can. If something comes to mind that describes you as a couple, bring it along. I'll find a way to include it.
5+1. Talk to each other beforehand, not just about the photos
This is the tip most people overlook. Before the session, talk about what you hope for from the images. Not in terms of poses or locations, but: what mood should the photos have? More calm and closeness, or more movement and lightness? What do you like about photos you have seen? We're happy to have this conversation in the introductory call. It makes the session calmer, because I know from the start what suits you.
