Picture Perfect: get creative with unusual locations for your portraits

By Nicolette DeFraine, SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITER—Picture this: After all the time xyou’ve spent researching wedding photographers, you’ve found and booked your best match, and the package you’ve purchased includes an engagement session and bridal portrait. It’s a great deal, but then you realize that now you’ve got two more things to plan, as if you didn’t have enough to do already! If classic studio portraits aren’t your style, don’t despair, there are many great places to take these photos in the Winston-Salem area, and once you get the ball rolling in the right direction, it’s easy to get creative and choose settings for your portraits that truly reflect you and your fiancé. Your photographer will probably have suggestions, but if you don’t feel that they really fit you, here are some places to start.

MOVE MOUNTAINS

If your photographer is willing to do a bit of traveling with you, beautiful mountain settings aren’t far away. The iconic Pilot Mountain (1792 Pilot Knob Park Road, Pinnacle) is an obvious choice, and Hanging Rock State Park (2015 Hanging Rock Park Road, Danbury) features cascades and waterfalls.

TIPS:

Don’t forget to consider places that mean something to you. If your home has a fantastic porch, or if you’ve worked together on the perfect living-room decor, or your apartment has the most fantastic view, take some photos there. Schedule a stop at the place where your fiancé proposed, or to take a few shots outside the place you went on your first date or shared your first kiss. If your family owns farmland, barns and open fields provide great settings, or maybe you have a lake house or summer home where you spend time together. Any place you visit often is a possibility — a vineyard, a country club, a coffee shop, a movie theater — anything is possible. And if you have children or pets, you may want to bring them along.

If you’re worried about ruining your dress on your bridal-portrait shoot, you might ask about scheduling another session after the wedding. “Trash the dress” photoshoots are popular, but you don’t need to push it to that level if you don’t want to — there’s certainly nothing wrong with having your bridal portrait taken when you no longer have to be afraid of snagging the trim on your train.

Time of day, season and weather are always a consideration, too — think about how different your shots will look if taken at noon as opposed to sunset, in the middle of summer as opposed to late autumn, or on a hazy day as opposed to a brilliantly sunny one. Any of these factors can change the overall feel of the session entirely, so plan accordingly.

Last but certainly not least, keep in mind that just because a place is open to the public doesn’t mean that there are no restrictions on photography, so be sure to ask if you need permission or a permit on private property. Have fun, and don’t forget to say “cheese!”