Where Inspiration Comes From
as a faith-based wedding photographer
If there is one thing your engagement photos should be (obviously, besides being beautiful) is being true to you and your unique love story. This is why I start by collecting your answers on a questionnaire. All of your answers will affect my approach during your session. From how comfortable you are with PDA to what your love language is. If you tell me you love words of affirmation, I will take a moment to prompt you with sharing two things you love about each other. If your favorite feature is his eyes, I will ask you to take a moment to look, and I mean really look into them and speak out every single color you can in his eyes. I take a very intentional approach to make sure your time in front of my camera feels like an authentic memory and not a modeling gig.
When I ask you to make a mood board for your photo session, I don’t want you to feel like you have to find a bunch of perfect couple photos and send them my way. A mood board is not really about finding photos that you want me to recreate. That wouldn’t help the whole “I don’t want this to feel like a photoshoot” goal. Instead, it is about giving me a sense of the feeling you want your photos to have.
Think of it as collecting little pieces of inspiration that communicate a mood. Maybe you want your photos to feel deeply romantic and intimate, or maybe you want them to feel playful and carefree. Maybe you want something that feels like home, something nostalgic, something wild and adventurous, or something sophisticated and editorial. There really isn’t a right or wrong answer. I just want to know what you want to feel when you look back at your photographs.
A mood board is a collection of images and ideas that help communicate the feeling you want your photos to have. It is a way for me to get inside your head a little and understand what you’re drawn to.
One thing I recommend avoiding is filling your board with a bunch of cute couple photos taken by other photographers. While those photos may be beautiful, it can be difficult for me to know what specifically caught your attention. Was it the location, the outfits, the light, the editing, the pose, or simply the way the couple felt together?
Instead, I want you to think about the way your love makes you feel something. Maybe it is the feeling of being home wherever you are together. Or the excitement of traveling somewhere new. The feeling of a summer evening or morning sunlight coming through a window slowing waking you up.
Save photographs of places you love, textures that catch your eye, artwork that inspires you, pieces of clothing you love, architecture, nature, old photographs, movies, books, lyrics, quotes, or anything else that captures the feeling of your love.
If you want your session to feel romantic and intimate, maybe your board includes a quiet bedroom, warm candlelight, soft fabrics, and a photograph that reminds you of being close to someone you love. If you want it to feel wild and free, maybe you save photographs of open landscapes, windblown hair, crashing waves, or bare feet in the grass. Maybe… you want a gentle mix of ALL the feelings! Start there.
Your mood board doesn’t have to make perfect sense to anyone else. In fact, it probably shouldn’t. I’m looking at the collection as a whole and paying attention to the patterns — the colors, textures, light, movement, and emotions that keep showing up. That’s what helps me understand what you’re really drawn to. From there, we can take what inspires you and create photographs that don’t just look beautiful, but actually feel like you and authentically yet artfully tell your story.
