Uh, so how the heck do you get creative?


I am by no means the all knowing guru of creativity when it comes to photography. I do like to think I have some tips to share, so in this post I'll walk you through my process of deciding shots and how I get creative.

Location, location, location.


Knowing everything there is to know about the location of my shoot is the FIRST thing I do. For Chrystine and Braden's in-home shoot, I arrived 15 minutes early and did a little tour of their home. I needed to familiarize myself with all the rooms so I could start to think about what objects or pieces I could maybe incorporate in shots. I wanted to scout out spots that had unique lighting, or poor lighting. That's always a first for me! Lighting is key and if you play with it right, you can get some really cool natural effects like in the photo below (Photo 1). Places that I could get a variety of poses, cool pieces of décor that I could incorporate. They had a super cute hanging wall mirror! (Photo 2) Is there a cozy blanket nearby I can wrap them in? Did they have a library wall I could sit them in front of with books surrounding them? Even taking a curtain to add a variation or blur to a photo can be cool (Photo 3). Is the house pretty minimal? Go into the hall, close the door, and shoot from there (Photo 4). BAM! It's like you're peeking in on their intimate moments!

Let's talk posing + prompts.


If you shoot a specific type of photography, whether or not it is couples, families, portraits, or elopements, you more than likely have your set of go-to poses and prompts. I don't blame you, I do the same thing - they're easy and always make for great pictures. But...they can get a little boring and people notice when you do the same things over and over again. So how do you get out of that rut?


The first thing I like to do is get to know my clients - some of them are not up for creativity, and that's okay. I send out questionnaires and sometimes even request a virtual consultation. I want to know what they expect and want from our shoot! Sometimes they want poses I've never tried before, it makes it that much easier for me to diversify my photographs! For this in-home shoot, I actually knew the couple beforehand so that work was already done for me.


Posing is also dictated by the style of the shoot - this shoot was simple so I wanted to keep the posing simple as well. I wanted to create intimacy but also get some giggles. Posing ideas from this shoot:

-Forehead and noses together, looking at each other's lips

-Give each other butterfly kisses

-While laying on the bed, I had them interlock elbows but roll side to side into each other


Prompts, prompts, prompts. Now here is where you can get REALLY creative. It all depends on the couple, lucky for me this one was super laid back and I knew I could use some of my funnier prompts to induce belly laughs.

Prompt ideas:

-While on his back, I had Chrystine whisper her favorite fast food meal in her best BEDROOM voice (Picture 1)

-Slow kisses: How badly do you want to kiss her? (Picture 2)

-If no one were watching, how would you two be alone? (Picture 3)

-What is the sweetest way you can kiss her, not on her lips? (Picture 4)

These are the three biggest ways I can get creative when shooting clients!