Planning for your Engagement session
Where will we be taking your engagement photos?
Valen Studios is based in Grayslake, IL. All of our engagement sessions are taken outside. We are flexible on where we can take your engagement session. It comes down to your personal preference if you want photos surrounded by nature, urban, or maybe both. If you love both we can start in Downtown Grayslake and drive over to Central Park.
Couples who love nature photos love these locations
Couples who love urban photos with a small town vibe love these locations
Do you have a special location in mind?
- We are happy to talk about any locations that are special to you. We can travel to any location within reason. There may be some travel fees, parking permit fees, or photo permit fees depending on where you want to go. We will let you know ahead of time if this is the case.
- If you are looking to do your engagement photos in Chicago there will be an additional fee to go here. This is because it takes about 4-6 hours to do. Only about 1 hour will be us taking photos in that timeframe. This includes us driving into the city, spending a lot of time driving to each photo location of your choice, and a lot of walking to each location. There will most likely be a few parking fees. Sometimes there is an event going on in the city that prevents us from going to some locations.
What should you wear?
- Wear something that you feel comfortable in and LOVE!
- If you love to dress up we recommend one outfit to get some photos of you in formal wear and one outfit in casual clothes. Some couples bring their favorite sports jerseys to take a few photos together. You will have to change in your car.
- Avoid wearing tiny patterns. When looking on screens they look odd but the print just fine in photos.
- If anything wrinkles easily, we recommend not wearing it in the car ride over. If this is the case make sure you arrive a few minutes early to change into your outfit in your car.
Can you bring your kids or pets?
- You are more than welcome to bring your children and/or your pets for a few photos. Please let us know ahead of time and make sure to bring someone to help watch them.
- Some locations do not allow pets.
- The plan is to get at least one good full body of everyone looking at the camera, a close up of everyone looking at the camera, and a fun candid photo of your family. We also will get a few individual photos of each little one (or pet) and all the kids (or pets) together.
Notes before your engagement session starts
- It is common to feel nervous. We hear all the time that couples have little to no experience taking professional photos. 8 out of 10 people say they always take awkward photos or don't know how to pose well.
- The secret ingredient for great posing is COMMUNICATION from your photographer. This is where we come in. Before each “pose” we will physically show you what we want you to do while explaining why. Taking the time to do this will help you feel more confident throughout your engagement session. Before we take any photos we will communicate any small tweaks we need from you. It might be as simple as moving your hand position up more to moving your heads near each other.
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