Elegant, Editorial & Completely Them | A Dayton Art Institute Engagement Session

There are some sessions where you walk in with a long list of things you want to accomplish.

And then there are sessions where you have a few ideas, a beautiful location, two people who trust you, and you just see where it goes.

This engagement session at the Dayton Art Institute was definitely the second one.

From the beginning, the goal was pretty simple:

Elegant.

Timeless.

Editorial.

But still them.

And honestly, that's exactly where I like to be.

Finding the Right Fit Matters

One thing that made this session a little different was that my bride works in the wedding industry herself.

So when she started looking for her own wedding vendors, she wasn't simply looking for someone who could provide a service.

She wanted the right fit for her and her fiancé.

And I can appreciate that.

We connected a little while back, talked through what they were looking for, got to know each other a little bit and ultimately decided that we would be a great fit.

That's something I continue to encourage couples to think about when they're choosing their wedding vendors.

Obviously, you should love the work.

But you're also going to spend a LOT of time with some of these people.

Especially your photographer.

You want somebody whose personality, approach and overall experience make sense for you.

By the time we got to their engagement session, there wasn't much left to figure out.

We could just create.

Editorial...Without Making It Feel Like a Production

Their vision lined up pretty naturally with how I like to photograph.

They wanted something editorial and candid.

A little polished.

A little romantic.

But nothing that felt overly staged.

Perfect.

We had a few ideas and concepts we wanted to try, so every once in a while we'd pull up one of their mood boards, look at an idea and use it as a starting point.

We'd get into a pose.

Create a few frames.

And then we'd go off script.

That's usually where things get interesting.

Maybe you move slightly differently than what we originally planned.

Maybe I notice another angle.

Maybe the light hits differently.

Maybe somebody makes a joke and suddenly the perfectly serious editorial photograph turns into both of you laughing at each other.

That's the fun part.

Inspiration should give us somewhere to start.

It doesn't have to tell us where we're going to finish.

We Didn't Need to Overdo It

I think couples sometimes believe a great engagement session needs to be this huge production.

Three locations.

Five outfits.

Twenty concepts.

Two hours of posing.

It doesn't.

This session actually went pretty fast.

We talked.

We joked.

We laughed.

We created a few intentional poses.

We walked around.

We went off script.

And once we knew we had it...

We were good.

There wasn't any reason to keep creating just for the sake of creating.

That's something I want more of my couples to understand.

Your engagement session doesn't have to feel like work.

Sometimes simple is better.

Give me a great location.

Give me an outfit that makes you feel GOOD.

Give me a little inspiration.

And then give me enough trust to see what happens.

Why the Dayton Art Institute Works So Well for Engagement Pictures

For couples looking for an elegant engagement photography location in Dayton, Ohio, the Dayton Art Institute is one of those places that immediately gives you a different feel.

The architecture alone does a lot of the work for us.

The stone.

The stairs.

The clean lines.

The scale of the building.

You can create something that feels elevated and editorial without needing a complicated setup.

And that's exactly what we wanted here.

Instead of trying to force the location to become something else, we allowed the architecture to frame them.

Put the couple in the right place.

Give them a little direction.

Then let them be themselves.

That's it.

Sometimes photography doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

Can We Get More Urban Engagement Sessions This Fall?

I'm putting this request into the universe right now.

😂

This fall...

Let's get some more couples into the city.

I love our fields.

I love flowers.

I love golden-hour sessions surrounded by trees.

Ohio gives us some incredible natural locations for engagement photography.

But there is something completely different about an urban engagement session.

Architecture.

Concrete.

Stairs.

Parking garages.

City streets.

Storefronts.

Crosswalks.

Downtown lights.

Old buildings.

Modern buildings.

All of it gives us opportunities to create something different.

And Dayton has PLENTY of it.

You don't necessarily need a field at sunset to make your engagement photographs feel romantic.

Sometimes I want the dress.

The suit.

The city.

And the two of you.

That's enough.

Your Engagement Session Should Still Feel Like You

That's probably the biggest takeaway from this session.

We had inspiration.

We had a vision.

We wanted that elegant, timeless, editorial feeling.

But I still wanted the photographs to feel like them.

I don't want to turn you into whoever was on your Pinterest board.

I want to take the things you love about those photographs and figure out how they translate into YOUR relationship.

If you're naturally affectionate, let's use that.

If you're constantly joking with each other, I'm definitely using that.

If you're a little awkward in front of the camera, we'll probably laugh about it and somehow turn that into a photograph too.

You don't have to perform for me.

That's why I like giving couples enough direction to feel comfortable and then backing off enough to let something real happen.

That's usually the sweet spot.

Another Love Story Captured in Dayton

Another engagement session in the books.

Another couple getting closer to their wedding day.

And another opportunity to create something right here in the city of Dayton.

Sessions like this are exactly why I enjoy engagement photography.

It gives us an opportunity to learn each other before the wedding.

You learn how I work.

I learn how you interact.

We figure out what feels natural.

We figure out what makes you laugh.

And by the time your wedding day arrives, we've already done this before.

That matters.

So to my newly engaged couples planning weddings in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and throughout Ohio:

Let's create something.

And if you're still deciding where to take your engagement pictures...

Don't overlook the city.

Put something nice on.

Let's walk around.

Let's find some architecture.

Let's create a few editorial portraits.

Let's go off script.

Let's laugh a little.

And let's make your engagement session feel like the two of you.

This fall, give me more urban engagement sessions.

I promise you won't regret it.