No, we’re not talking about gunfire or alcohol. We’re talking about an engagement photo shoot in the city. Our photographer spent an entire afternoon with us to take more than just a few engagement pictures. Boston holds a special place in our hearts so it was only fitting.. When taking shots around a city, here are some things we learned (along with some of our pictures):

1. Don’t overshoot! We would have loved to have hit The Commons, Public Gardens, Charles River, Copley Square, the waterfront (wharf/Faneuil Hall), Fenway, the neighborhood we use to live in and Northeastern. At that rate, we would have needed an entire weekend and a case of Red Bull. We had about 4 hours so we had to choose the 2-3 spots we definitely wanted to hit. Our choice: Northeastern, The Fens (neighborhood where we lived for a couple of years near Fenway) and (of course!) Fenway Park. (F.Y.I. if you have $500 to spare, you can go inside Fenway Park and take your pictures there – assuming there are no games or events going on at the time). Let’s just say we didn’t go inside Fenway. All of these 3 locations were within a square mile of one another so there was no issue of having to wait for the T (That’s the train/subway system in Boston for those that don’t know) or taking up a huge chunk of time walking between places.

2. Timing is everything. 3pm-7pm in the spring was best for catching a good amount of sunlight. We found that as the sun lowered in the sky, the pictures got even better. Too much light can really wash out a shot. Although, that sunlight made it great for catching reflections in buildings and windows!

3. Dress to Impress. We went with wearing jeans with comfy, casual shoes and changing tops since we’d be on foot and only carrying a couple of backpacks. Gerber Daisy Dude made the mistake of wearing white sneakers… let’s just say he swapped them out for a pair of black shoes real quick. Who knew white was so taboo?? I will not bore you with what to wear and what not to wear but here is our photographer’s blog [http://jagstudios.net/blog/]. Go down to “What To Wear”. This was extremely helpful.

4. Don’t let it rain on your parade. Just be prepared. It got a little cold as we were shooting so I had layers of clothing. Oh, and while I’m thinking about layering, I also made sure I had a tank top on under my clothes so that I could just change shirts on the spot. Gerber Daisy Dude had a white tank on too for the same reason. If you think it may rain, bring an umbrella and poncho or whatever will work best to keep you dry.

5. Replenish your body. Bring plenty of water and some light snacks. This is especially important if it’s a hot, humid and/or sunny day. Always have a bathroom plan too! When nature calls, it doesn’t like being sent to voicemail if you catch my drift.

6. Be prepared for anything! We went to take a quick bathroom break at an academic building while we are at Northeastern and we found a bright yellow wall that our photographer fell in love with. We plopped our stuff down, did a shirt change and took some great shots. We’d been in that building countless times for Dunkin Donuts runs and never even noticed it. Who knew??

7. Have fun and play! You are going to be in public places and people are going to wonder what the heck is going on. We pretty much ignored the fact that others were around us. Although we did hear some people walking by saying, “are they filming something here?” The same also goes for the photographer. Ours was almost attacked by a dog that was no bigger than our toaster oven. The dog was on a leash and we had a good laugh about it afterward. It was just a case of big dog in a little dog’s body.

We found that the engagement shoot was a chance to rehearse for the big day. We are now even more comfortable with our photographer, are cool with being in front of the camera and know our wedding day pictures are just gonna plain rock!