Avoiding Photography Cliches???

I agree! We decided against engagement photos totally. Neither of us really like the idea- why would we be in a field of hay when neither of us had ever been there before? We're doing a newlywed session a few months in - around Christmas. Our photographer will be here while we decorate a tree, make cocoa, etc. Since that's something we do every year, it's something that will actually mean something to us.

Whenever a friend's engagement photos show up on Facebook, FH and I have a good laugh about the "woman stares up adoringly at man" pose. I feel like it doesn't matter who the couple is or what their style is, that same stupid pose shows up every time!

@Janet - "Why would we be in a field of hay" made me laugh out loud. Hilarious.

We chose not to do e-pics for the same reasons. I dislike staged photos. I plan to keep them to a minimum at the wedding. I prefer documenting real moments and actions personally.

It's all about your photographer. I hate hate hate staged photos for the most part, I barely like posed photos.

But yeah, get e-pics if you want them, but make them mean something to you. Sure, ours are in a field and by a barn... but it's also our house. I love Janet's idea.

My personal least favorite is the back of the man with the girl leaning on his shoulder, facing the camera, "showing off" the ring. I hate it. No one stands facing different directions.

We didn't do photos of the dress on a hanger. I know most of the brides on here do them but it's not me. I also didn't do the "getting ready" photos. I'm not a young bride. I don't want photos of me without makeup. I saved the money and had the photog stay later at the reception instead.

My fiancé literally refused to do multiple outfits/locations because he said he hates when he's looking at engagement photos and its like "look at us, we're in a bar, now we're outside, now there's a barn, it's sunset, now we're in jeans, now I have a suit, look our dog is here too!" He felt it just looked so staged it was ridiculous. So we basically just went out for drinks with our photographers and took pictures as we went. Some are clearly posed but they would just be like sit here and interact with each other. It was really great.

I think choosing the right photographer is really important. Our photogs are more high-fashion photo journalism style, which I really liked. I didn't want cutesy stuff where we are making a heart with our hands or peeking out from behind a tree at each other (no offense to those who did these, just not my personal style). Looking at our photographer's past work, I knew that I wouldn't have to tell them that I didn't want the cliche poses because they just don't shoot those.

Oh man, this thread is making my giggle! I love your idea, Janet

The one I really dislike is when the couple joins their fingers to make a heart...

If my photographer sent me an edited image with selective coloring, I would have fired him on the spot.

What ever you do, don't do spot coloring.

ETA - great minds think alike.

Haha heart hands! Nooo!

Janet, you say you don't want e-pics and you have good reasons, but your newlywed session sounds great because it will picture you doing something meaningful as a couple. An engagement session can be just that too, talk with your photographer, if they know what they're doing they'll listen to you and come up with great ideas.

Without empty frames.

And selective colors.

And fake lens flares.

OMG spot coloring and fake lens flares. So much gross.

I don't necessarily mind props, but I really don't get the point of them.

@janet I love your idea. I may be stilling that.

LOL I'm totally guilty of a couple of cliche engagement photos. I just couldn't resist the heart with lights.. It was too cute. Most of ours consisted of funny faces and us just being the goofballs we are while our photog snapped away. We did 1 location, (which happens to be the park where we walk our dogs) in the same outfit. We chose colors close to our wedding colors because I wanted one to use on our invitations. Do whatever fits your personalities. We're adorable goofballs. It is what it is..

I 100% agree with you - but it's totally all about the photographer (and your communication with them). We went into our epic session TOTALLY skeptical (we did it because it was part of the package) and we actually had so much fun and love our photos. I think it helped a lot that we asked to go somewhere we love and spend a lot of time in - not a random hay field.

ETA: Also, I highly recommend visiting a bar halfway through the session. ;-)

Just for kicks, one of my favorites from ours:

Yeeeessssss! I dislike so many photo cliches haha. Anything that is just hands, hearts, holding the word love, holding hands, I just don't see the point of a picture that you're not in! Also overdone signs which at this point is most signs.

I was thinking of doing them at our city's science center. I haven't seen any other engagement photos done there. My fiance and I are both nerdy (he actually works in biotech) and I think that would be fun. Just down the road is a cute coffee shop where we can play board games and lounge on couches (which we both love to do). Hopefully it won't be too cliche. I don't want them overly posed.

We did some. One of my favorites includes the shots we got when we snuck into UNO's library. People were waling back and forth past us trying to figure out what the hell we were doing. My second favorite is more candid. We're trying not to laugh at a drunk guy who kept asking us why we were stuck in the phone booth.

I think had I asked Mike to use selective coloring he would've quit.

We also didnt use any cliche props or signs. just interacted with each other in a nice setting. turned out great.