Sweet Shops & Smoke Bombs
Posted on: 24.01.12
When photographer Susie from Chasing Moments sent over this lovely engagement shoot I couldn't wait to share it with you
She has clearly spent the time & effort to get to know the couple & boy does it come across in the photographs!
This is how Susie approached this shoot...
"Engagement shoots are a great idea for all involved. For the couple in question, it’s a
chance to get to know your photographer a little better and see the way they work. It’s
a chance to get used to the idea of being photographed before your big day. For the
photographer, it’s a great chance to find out a bit more about your couple and see how
they interact with each other. It is also a brilliant opportunity to be creative and try
things…well….a little bit different.
It was great chatting with Jonny when he first contacted me in 2011. We talked about
photography A LOT. Jonny photographs cityscapes and told me that a few of his
images had been published. Very cool.
So now I needed to find out a little bit about Joanna, to plan a shoot that would reflect
both of their personalities. The tricky thing was that the engagement shoot was to be
a surprise. Some stealth, straight to the point, emailing was needed. I decided to send
Jonny the following questions:
1. What are your and Joanna's favourite bands/ type of music?
2. What are your top 3 films (if thats possible?!...feel free to list more if you like!)
3. How did you and Joanna meet?
4. How would you describe Joanna in 5 words or less?
5. How would she describe you?
6. What sort of things do you like doing together?
7. Where are your favourite places to visit together?
8. I know you are also a very keen photographer, so who's images do you find
inspiring?
The responses were fantastic and evidence that Jonny and Joanna were a really fun
couple. Jonny used the words: lovely, beautiful, bubbly and joyful to describe Joanna
and told me that they liked visiting sweet shops together amongst other things. He
painted a picture of a couple who never took themselves too seriously. Hurrah!
Scouting locations in a city like London is ace. The surroundings can often change
dramatically with a mere bus hop.
Battersea Power Station was the perfect choice for Jonny & Joanna’s engagement
shoot. Those massive cooling towers would provide the backdrop for the gritty,
candid street photography that Jonny wanted to see and to be honest…they rather
reminded me of Willy Wonkas chocolate factory. Perfect!
So armed with lots of sweets and smoke bombs (those cooling towers haven’t worked
for years, unfortunately) I met Jonny and Joanna in Pimlico on 30th December 2011.
What a great, fun finish to the year.
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