We Took Our Own Engagement Photos
How to Take Engagement Photos on a Budget
Garrett (my fiancé) and I got engaged this past September while backpacking in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, and it was epic. He proposed just before sunset in the most beautiful spot, with two of our good friends with us who captured the proposal and some photos of us right after. Here’s a link to my Instagram post about it. So we have amazing proposal photos, but I wanted engagement photos as well.
Living in our van this year and traveling full-time, we are on a tight budget with us both technically unemployed (we quit our full-time jobs to travel for a year), though I have still been doing influencer work, brand photography, and social media management part time. So we knew we couldn’t afford a photographer, but also being a photographer myself, I wanted the challenge of taking our own engagement photos. I’d also love to get into engagement and adventure couple photos, so this was a way for me to prove to myself that if I could take ours on my own with just a tripod, then I know I will take amazing photos of other couples.
Here’s How We Took Our Own Engagement Photos in Yosemite
We were already traveling to Yosemite this fall for climbing, and I figured that would be the best spot to try taking our own photos. A friend who is an elopement photographer shot an elopement in Yosemite right before we were headed there and she gave me the location suggestion, and I am so happy with how it all turned out.
The Location
We took our photos at Sentinel Dome up Glacier Point Road in Yosemite National Park. I have seen sunsets at Taft Point before and they were amazing (all sunsets in Yosemite are pretty epic), but Taft can get very crowded at sunset, even on week nights. After hearing that Sentinel Dome was way less crowded, I decided it would be the perfect spot since I would be running around with my tripod and didn’t want other people around. We went on a Friday night and pretty much had the place to ourselves.
How We Dressed
I didn’t have time to get a dress, so we decided to go more casual and do pants and flannels. I still plan on taking a second set of engagement photos in a skirt or dress in the desert, but I just couldn’t pass up Yosemite, so we went with what we had. We planned Garrett’s outfit in advance, but mine was a little more thrown together since there were not any malls or clothing stores on our way to Yosemite, after we decided to shoot there.
When you’re planning your engagement photo outfits, you want to have colors and pieces that compliment each other without actually matching. Also take into consideration your location and the colors in nature that you will be around. Sunsets in Yosemite usually are very glowy, golden, pink, and can have greens of pine trees and grays of the rock faces.
What Skye Wore
We don’t have a ton of clothes with us in the van, and most of what we have is outdoor/technical gear. So I needed to find something on the way to Yosemite that would look good in photos and feel like me. I ended up picking a flannel that was maroon and brown, which would compliment and almost match Garrett’s colors. I paired the new flannel with a pair of jeans I had with me and my favorite Blundstone boots.
What Garrett Wore
We picked Garrett’s outfit out when we were in Seattle shopping the Outdoor Research Seattle Store (I’m an ambassador for them). He chose a light gray flannel and light maroon pants. The colors looked good together and were casual but still put together. We didn’t think about shoes in advance for him, so he ended up wearing his navy blue trail runners, which actually looked good since they were a dark color.
Taking the Photos
After getting ready in the van, we hiked out to Sentinel Dome which was about a 1.5 mile hike. We planned to get out there an hour before sunset so we would be able to get golden hour and sunset shots. Because I hadn’t been to the location before, we both walked around to fine a couple of spots close together to shoot at.
Once we found our first spot, I set up my tripod and had Garrett stand and sit in the spot we wanted to be in. I set all of my camera settings with him in frame, then set my camera to interval shooting mode to take one photo every second for two minutes. This gave us time to move around and try different poses before I would run back and reset the camera, adjust exposure, and change focal length. It was hard to take photos without seeing what we looked like, so I understand why people hire a photographer. It would have been so nice to have someone else running around us and telling us how to pose, but we still did really good in the moment.
As the light started changing and the sun got lower, we moved to a second spot a little lower down. I picked both spots where we would have El Capitan in the background, along with a rock for us to stand or sit on. At the second spot we took more photos until the sun fully set. After that, we packed up and hiked out as it started getting dark (don’t forget headlamps when you’re shooting at sunset).
Post Production
Editing was the most fun part for me, it was so exciting to see our photos the next day and to get to edit them exactly how I wanted. The lighting was so perfect, the location was stunning, and I was so happy with how everything turned out. For these photos in particular, the focus was about us, so I did edit a little differently than I normally do with landscapes. I warmed things up a bit and adjusted saturation and exposure on each image so I could get the lighting perfect.
Our Rings
We got engaged with silicone rings and those are our engagement rings so what we featured in our engagement photos. Why silicone rings? We decided to get engaged with silicone rings for a few reasons, mainly our lifestyle being outside and active just about everyday. Getting engaged shouldn’t be about the ring in my opinion, it should be about your love and commitment to your partner. We get to wear our rings everyday now, even when climbing and hiking, which I wouldn’t want to do with a “real” ring.
I’d Love to Take Your Engagement or Couples Photos
This experience showed me how much I love taking couples photos and I want to take photos like this of other couples in beautiful outdoor locations. I want to focus on adventure engagement photos, sunset hikes, mountain overlooks, or even rock climbing. But not just engagements, if you want couples photos doing your favorite outdoor activity or showing off your love around the Pacific Northwest, reach out and let’s chat. I’d also love to take proposal photos as well, it’s so amazing to have your proposal captured for when you publicly share/announce your engagement. If you are interested in engagement, adventure, couples, or family photos, shoot me an email. I would love to take your photos!
Final Thoughts
Taking our own photos was hard, but so much fun and so special that we could do it ourselves. It also showed me how much I want to photograph other couples and make their love stand out in beautiful spots. I can’t wait to try again and take a second set of photos of us in the desert (out next stop on our road trip).
Update: We did take some more photos while we were in Death Valley, and I’m adding them in below since they turned out just as amazing as the first set.
More of The Yosemite Photos
Photos from Badwater Basin in Death Valley
Badwater Basin Death Valley: How to Visit the Rare Temporary Lake
The Best Larch Hikes in Banff and Canmore for Fall Colors
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