Asking from the perspective of both the model and the photographer!

For context, in my community couples don’t touch before marriage. As a result, engagement photos can be…stiff. Either photographers try to make it look like they’re touching by placing the woman a few steps in front of the man, or they just awkwardly hang out next to each other/separated by a flower vase.

My partner and I are about to be engaged. Now, we do touch, but we need photos that we can post publicly for more religious family and friends to see😂 The photographer taking the pics has a lot of really pretty photos (think snapshots from a movie vibe) but from her website I only see couples who touch.

I thought about maybe some props or doing it some place like a bookstore (because we are total nerds haha) although I know my partner envisioned it more like on a beach or something like that.

Any tips for all of us?

Thank you!!

  • QuackedDuckie@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    If it’s not pushing boundaries too much, you could try the “almost touch”.

    - Reaching out with space between fingers as if you’re trying to hold hands, but aren’t.

    - Palm to palm with air between.

    - Leaning towards each other on a rail of some sort such as a bridge or something. Keep space between.

    ​

    You could also use props. Since you’re thinking beach:

    - Each holding one end of a conch shell or something else beachy. Or just use a simple rose. Something so you’re close enough to touch the same object and have that connection for the eye to follow, but still aren’t touching each other.

    - Walking while carrying something between you, one hand on each side such as a sand bucket handle or a boat rope or something else beachy

    - Lay on a beach blanket with space between you, but leaning towards each other reading a book.

    - Build a sandcastle together! (Or write words like “marry me”, “just engaged”. Perhaps build a sand diamond ring?)

    - Throwing a frisbee between each other. No need to catch if your eye-hand coordination is awful. The pictures won’t be able to tell you missed! ;)

    - Embrace the “down on one knee” vibe, but do something unexpected like having one partner present a shell, crab, or some other natural beach object to the other.