One thing you should know about Kelsey and I is that we always strive to do things that are unique and challenge the status-quo. We like to do things and go places that our friends and family may not even know about. We never want to be an “us too” couple.
This also applied to our engagement session. Don’t get me wrong, Minneapolis is beautiful; there are so many amazing sites to shoot, and every photographer has their own style that makes it unique. However, we did not want to be yet another couple to do their engagement session at all the usual sites. We just wanted to do something different.
Palm Springs happened to be where we had Hayley do our engagement session, but we did not choose to go there just for that reason. The trip to Palm Springs was already planned and from past experiences there, we knew there were so many unique and contrasting locations where we could shoot. After we met Hayley for the first time, she instantly made us feel comfortable and she was someone that we knew we could enjoy hanging out with, even without photography. It was a no-brainer to invite Hayley to join us in Palm Springs.
Being in Palm Springs with Hayley did not feel like a “we hired a photographer to come take photos of us” affair whatsoever. She self-proclaimed that she was just going to “third-wheel with us for a few days and take photos here and there”. It was so much better than that. We had such an amazing time together. From an observer’s perspective, it probably looked and felt like three friends hanging out and one of them just so happened to be really into photography. I hate referring to Kelsey and I as “clients”, but Hayley’s ability to truly connect and befriend her “clients” gives her a unique ability that I cannot imagine can be matched. Why this is so important is that an engagement session’s secondary purpose is to make the photographer and their clients comfortable around each other, so when the big day comes, everything feels natural. That comfort will inevitably yield photographs that are exponentially better than if we had foregone our trip together to Palm Springs.
To build on that point and why a destination session is such a great idea is that if we were to have spent a few hours around Minneapolis, we would not have built that connective tissue and comfort with Hayley compared to what we now have. The ability to spend all day and night together, as friends, rather than as clients and photographer is invaluable. The photos that she produced after our time together in Palm Springs is clear evidence.
We highly advise any couple that is considering doing a destination engagement session, to stop considering it for another minute and just do it! Not only will it make your wedding day photos better, but you will have a truly unique finished product that has a story behind it, and if you are as lucky as us, you’ll gain a new friend.
