DOCKS AND THEIR BOATS by WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER IN LISBON
Photographs from the pre-wedding session with Isabel and Carlos, in the Expo area in Lisbon
- Pode ler este artigo em Português.
A Walk for Photographs: This Is How a Pre-Wedding Session Should Be
A pre-wedding session is, for me, much more than an opportunity to take a few photographs before the wedding.
It is a chance to slow down, step away from everyday routines, and simply go for a walk together, while the wedding photographer follows the couple and records what naturally happens along the way.
Many couples arrive at a pre-wedding session thinking they will need to know how to pose or follow constant directions. I prefer to think about it differently.
A walk, a conversation, discovering a place together, and having the freedom to simply be with each other can be enough for the photographs to happen.
The session should allow the relationship between the two of them to be more important than the photography itself. The photographer is there, observing, following, and stepping in only when necessary.
This is how I like to build these moments: leaving room for spontaneity and for the things that cannot be planned.
The Pre-Wedding Session as a First Meeting with the Photographer
A pre-wedding session has an importance that goes far beyond the photographs that remain at the end.
It is an opportunity for the couple to get to know their wedding photographer better and, above all, to understand what their presence will feel like throughout the wedding day.
For people who are not used to being photographed, this experience can make a huge difference. The camera stops being something unfamiliar and simply becomes part of the environment.
During the walk, the couple realises that they do not need to be constantly looking at the camera or know exactly what to do at every moment. Gradually, the photographer’s presence becomes more natural.
And the same happens in the other direction. For the photographer, the session is an opportunity to get to know the couple outside the pressure and pace of the wedding day.
To understand how they communicate, how they relate to one another, how they react to each other, and which small gestures are part of the way they naturally are together.
All of this will matter later.
On the wedding day, when everything happens quickly, there is already a relationship in place. The photographer is no longer simply someone who arrived with a camera. There has already been time to walk, talk, observe, and photograph.
Choosing a Place That Means Something to You Both
The place where a pre-wedding session takes place should not be chosen simply because it looks beautiful.
Of course, an interesting landscape, a garden, a waterfront or an urban setting can offer excellent possibilities for wedding photography. But something else matters even more: whenever possible, the place should have some connection to the couple or to the way they enjoy spending time together.
It could be:
- a place where they first met;
- somewhere they often go for walks;
- a natural setting where they feel comfortable;
- a city they both enjoy;
- a garden, beach or riverside area;
- or simply somewhere that allows them to relax and talk.
There is no single formula.
The best setting may be one that would have no particular meaning to someone else. Because what matters is not only what appears in the photograph, but what the couple brings into it.
A good wedding photographer should know how to look at a location and find its possibilities, but should also know how to listen to the couple. Choosing the place is part of the story and should not be separated from it.
A Morning Made of Light, Mist and Silence
There are mornings that seem to have been made for photographs.
Soft light, a very delicate blue sky, a landscape still covered in mist, and that feeling that the day is only just beginning can create an extraordinary atmosphere. Nothing much needs to be added.
In a situation like this, the wedding photographer can simply follow.
Morning light makes it possible to work with gestures, looks, closeness, and all those small moments that happen between two people when they are not thinking about photography.
A hand reaching for the other, a smile, a conversation interrupted by a glance, or simply the way they walk side by side.
The elements already present in the setting can also become part of the story.
Trees, flowers, water, boats, paths, or architectural structures can frame the couple without turning them into mere decorative elements. The setting is there to add something to the photograph, but it should never become more important than the people.
A Walk Through Different Settings and Different Rhythms
One of the things I enjoy most about a pre-wedding session is precisely the possibility of walking and discovering what a place has to offer.
There is no need to choose a single spot and remain there for the entire session. The photographs can change as the couple moves through the landscape.
We might begin, for example, beside a riverside area, where anchored boats and the water create a peaceful atmosphere. It can feel like a refuge, somewhere removed from the movement and noise of the city.
There, the couple can simply walk, talk, or stop for a few minutes. There is no need to constantly create situations. Very often, all that is needed is to observe.
Further along, a bamboo garden can offer a completely different atmosphere. Dense vegetation creates depth, privacy and an almost unexpected sense of the exotic. If modern architecture appears in the background, the contrast between the clean lines of the built environment and the surrounding nature can add another dimension to the photographs.
That variety is precisely what makes the walk interesting.
The couple is not going through a sequence of poses. They are moving, talking, discovering places and sharing a small moment. The photographs emerge as a consequence of that journey.
Photographing What Happens Instead of Inventing Moments
A pre-wedding session should feel relaxed.
For me, that means the couple should not feel that they are constantly performing a version of themselves for the camera. They do not need to know how to pose. They do not need to repeat gestures simply because they “look good in a photograph”.
A wedding photographer can guide when necessary, suggest a direction, or make use of a particular space and a particular kind of light. But there is an important difference between guiding and controlling.
When there is room for spontaneity, things happen that cannot be manufactured.
A smile that appears during a conversation. A joke. A lingering look. The way one of them moves closer to the other. A moment of silence. A small distraction.
These are often the tiny things that give photographs their sense of truth.
That is why I like to think of the session as a photographed walk rather than a posing session. The couple should feel that they are living the moment, not simply producing images.
What a Pre-Wedding Session Can Offer
- It helps the couple become familiar with the photographer and their way of working.
- It allows them to understand what it feels like to be in front of a camera without the pressure of the wedding day.
- It creates a relationship of trust before the ceremony.
- It allows the photographer to understand the couple’s personality better.
- It allows them to explore places that have meaning for both of them.
- It creates more natural, spontaneous photographs that are closer to who they really are.
- It helps make the presence of photography feel more natural during the wedding itself.
What Remains Beyond the Photographs
It is easy to look at a pre-wedding session simply as a way of getting a few good photographs before the big day.
But there is another dimension to it.
That walk is also a moment that belongs to the couple. A small pause before everything changes. Before the ceremony, the guests, the celebration, the embraces, and all the emotions that will fill the wedding day.
That is why everything does not need to happen for the sake of photography.
The couple can talk. They can stop. They can laugh. They can look at the landscape. They can simply walk.
And it is precisely when photography stops being the main concern that the photographer can often find the most interesting images.
The result will not simply be a collection of beautiful photographs. It will also be a record of how the two of them were at that moment in their story, before they became husband and wife.
Conclusion: A Pre-Wedding Session Should, Above All, Be a Walk
In the end, this is what I look for in a pre-wedding session: a walk.
A walk with time, with room to talk, discover places, and simply be together. The wedding photographer is there, but should not turn every minute into a photographic obligation.
The best session is not necessarily the one in which the most photographs are taken. It is the one in which, after a while, the couple stops thinking about being photographed.
When that happens, the relationship takes its rightful place at the centre.
And that is when photographs with truth begin to appear.
Photographs of a look, a gesture, a moment of closeness, or simply two people walking together. Photographs that do not depend on a perfect pose, but on what exists between them.
That is what can make a pre-wedding session much more than preparation for the wedding. It can become, in itself, a memory worth keeping.
A Walk to Record Your Story
If you are preparing for your wedding, a pre-wedding session can be an excellent way to stop for a few hours and enjoy a moment that belongs only to you, away from the pressure and pace of the wedding day.
Choose a place that means something to you, go for a walk, talk, and let the rest happen naturally.
I will be there to observe, follow, and turn those moments into wedding photographs that reflect your personality and your story.
