NER - engagement photos

emeejeeayen

Engagement photos come with our wedding photo package, so we're doing them in a week and a half when we're back in San Francisco.

I know you're all from places all over, but I thought you might have suggestions for engagement photo locations anyway (generally speaking at least). Maybe you've visited. Maybe you've seen photos. Maybe you've been to a city at some point in your life ever. IDK.

What do you like best? City scapes? Indoors? Outdoors? 

I really want to avoid looking cheesy. I think I maybe hate props.

Also, our dog will be with us. She is a tiny long haired dachshund, and you can see her in my user pic  

And I think I want to get this dress (click) from RtR.com

We have a ton of very casual photos from when FI proposed to me on the beach (he had arranged for my family to take photos with my SLR camera from afar), so I thought it might be nice to do something a bit fancier. Our wedding will be at a vineyard, so I'm leaning toward some sort of cityscape, but I also think it might be nice to have shots with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background?

I've looked all over the interwebs, and I find things I like *sort of* but nothing that really jumps out at me. 

So, if you could do engagement photos in the bay area, where would you do them? -OR- if you could re-do your engagement photos, what would you change/what did you like? 

Thanks!

ETA: hyperlink so post isn't so wonky

Peledreamsofrain

Does that area have a botannical garden? Our local garden has a huge wysteria trellis, and we took beautiful engagement photos under them when they were in bloom.

emeejeeayen

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_ner-engagement-photos?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:78377132-6924-40f9-b019-1a45294eadfcPost:231057ca-f009-4c26-a1f2-faedca36b4a8">Re:NER engagement photos</a>:
[QUOTE]Does that area have a botannical garden? Our local garden has a huge wysteria trellis, and we took beautiful engagement photos under them when they were in bloom.
Posted by Peledreamsofrain[/QUOTE]

<div>Yes! Great idea!</div>

bridalmarch

I live outside of Baltimore, but we took our engagement photos in a park. We also wanted to avoid cheesy poses and the whole "I love you so much that I had to stand in a field of wheat at sunset and stare into your eyes" look. We have a dog and a daughter and it sort of ended up being like a family shoot that happened to have some pics of my ring in it. Here are a couple shots. 

 

Angelface225

The Presidio is a huge park near the golden gate bridge. There are some really great parts of the city for that vintage urban look - think one area is called the Castro? It's been a few years since I've been there. I loved Muir woods, it's a redwood forest across the golden gate bridge. I have some beautiful pictures from there. You could also do a kitschy touristy shoot down near Fisherman's Wharf. Tons of places, I love San Fran! Super jealous!

Simply Fated

I like the pictures that look the most natural. I hate the "trendy" photos. Honestly? The best one I saw was of the bride and the groom on the front porch of their apartment. It was not only natural, but it was them. They didn't go to a location they don't usually go to or pose in positions they don't usually pose in.

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_ner-engagement-photos?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:78377132-6924-40f9-b019-1a45294eadfcPost:5da6c9d3-7f9c-4624-bfc2-49d9c48f0783">Re: NER - engagement photos</a>:
[QUOTE]I like the pictures that look the most natural. I hate the "trendy" photos. Honestly? The best one I saw was of the bride and the groom on the front porch of their apartment. It was not only natural, but it was them . They didn't go to a location they don't usually go to or pose in positions they don't usually pose in.
Posted by Simply Fated[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. Ours was in Central Park, but it wasn't doing super pose-y things. Our photographer just told us to walk where we normally do in the park (and we do walk there a lot) so we just kind of wandered one of our favorite routes and he took pictures along the way and found good places for us to just stop and sit for a minute.

ravenray

 I got married in San Fran!  Yay I love the city.  

 

What about down by the Embarcadero?  That has so many neat shops inside of it and cool buildings along the warf.  

 

I took pictures in a park near the  southeast side of the city.  I recommend parks.  

soontobehanby

I am a photographer, and I can just say I LOVE shooting in downtown city areas for engagement pictures. There is just so much more to play off of as far as backgrounds, poses, etc. Usually there are nice parks near by, so you can get the best of both worlds.

kipnus

We had our e-pics done at a park and included some with a tennis theme, as that's how we really got to know each other. I think it's cool when couples bring in something personal.