"Engagement Session" Photography (but not really) | Making Perogies With Nicole And Ian During Their Couple's Session
When I meet with folks who’re getting married, and we’re not in a rush (say, the wedding isn’t in like 3 weeks), we always get to chatting about doing a little photo-session before the wedding.
You know, documenting the ‘ordinary’ moments of life.
And the first question that comes up is: “What do you LOVE to do together?”
Everyone has a different answer. All folks in love like to spend time together in different ways.
Some people like to bake bread, or play video games, or go for a hike…
There are many ways to connect with a partner, so these sessions are far removed from your typical couple/engagement session.
That’s why I don’t like to use the term engagement session; except if I don’t use it, then no one will find this blog, and no one will ever know that there is another way!
Engagement photographs bring to mind pinterest-style posed photos in epic locations. And there’s a time and place for that. Epic is in my vocabulary, for sure.
BUT…
The most important aspect to capturing the human spirit - and love between partners - is getting to the heart of what it is that feeds your love.
Those moments of together time, when it’s just you against the world; tucked away with the love of your life, doing something that might be silly or boring to other people. But so very meaningful for you.
That’s really the modern definition of “engagement photography”. For me, anyway.
Would you agree with that? I often wonder how many people who read this have the same intuition about couple’s and partner photography.
Nicole And Ian Make Perogies And I Photograph Them :)
When we were brainstorming with Nicole and Ian, we very quickly came up with the idea that they can make perogies for their engagement session.
Nicole has been making perogies since she was seven years old. This is a really important tradition for her and her family.
First, she makes the filling ahead of time. Then she makes the dough - just by mixing flour and water. She makes it sound easy, but when I tried, I had to throw out my first batch of dough. It was unworkable!
After the dough had sat sufficiently (Nicole had it all ready way before I came over to photograph them), she rolled it out, then carefully cut it in little strips.
Each strip was then cut even further into little squares… or triangles? I couldn’t quite remember, so I had to go back to the photographs when I tried my hand at making my own perogies haha.
And now, she’s taught Ian the process. He’s still learning, mind you. When you look at how quickly and skillfully Nicole fills the dough with filling and seals it, you will notice a difference. She’s a pro. She makes it look easy.
And Ian is a good pupil. Together, they filled a big batch of perogies in no time
Then Nicole boiled them, and they got big!
In true documentary photography fashion, I photographed the entire process, from start to finish. I think in 30 years or more, when they have kids or niblings of their own, they’ll be sharing this tradition with them, teaching them how to roll the dough, and how to fill it with the yummy filling. I hope these photographs of them - young and in love and making perogies together in their early years of the relationship - will bring them joy and will be shared with their family :)
Making Perogies Is A Perfect Couples’ activity
Here are just a few reasons why making perogies is such a great activity for an engagement session or couples’ session:
Making perogies showcases loving care. Perogy-making (or any activity where one person knows a little more about the activity than the other) lends itself really well to photographs where one partner is lovingly teaching the other
Making perogies requires use of the hands! And hands are the window to the soul (or was that the eyes? Anyway, hands are super important in photographs. The more you move your hands, the more emotion and feeling there is in the photos :P) So no awkwardness and straight arms in the photos, because you are DOING something with your hands
Making perogies is silly: you get dirty and messy with the flour, and some of it might end up on your face. It’s just good fun and makes you less worried about everything being ‘perfect’
Making perogies is a great team-builder! And when you’re with people you love, this is super duper useful to capture in photographs: working toward a common goal with your partner.
I’m sure there are a gazillion other reasons why making perogies is awesome for an engagement session activity, but I’ll stop at four.
Hope you enjoyed reading about Nicole and Ian’s quirky and different engagement session, capturing something that is meaningful to them both.
