Engagement photography vs Proposal Photography: What’s the difference?
How do you know if you are booking engagement photography or proposal photography?
Let’s set the stage: you’re planning on popping the question soon and you’ve settled on New Orleans as the perfect location to surprise your sweetheart. So you do the first thing any reasonable person would do: head to google.
You sit down with your device of choice and start pouring through all of the information you can find on getting engaged in New Orleans. There’s a decent amount to sort through for such a small niche in a big little city. You find blog posts listing the best places to propose, a couple of national companies selling New Orleans proposal packages, a handful of wedding photographers who also shoot proposals, and one professional photographer who specializes in planning surprise proposals in New Orleans (🙋♀️).
Some things, however, may leave with more questions than when you started. For example, you find services offered for proposal photography, surprise proposals, engagement photography, engagement sessions, “engagements”, and other similarly named services that sound like a proposal-related offering but you aren’t really sure. Why aren’t they called proposals if they are proposals? Are “proposal” and “engagement” interchangeable or are they actually different services? Why is pricing all over the place???
I don’t blame you for feeling lost! All of this can be really confusing for someone planning to propose for the first time. Most first time proposers have never interacted with wedding (and wedding adjacent!) industry pros before. And the truth is, the problem isn’t you… it’s us.
So I’m going to help you decipher some of the confusing info you’ve likely stumbled across. Here’s everything you need to know to book the right photography pro for your proposal.
Table of Contents
- Are "proposal" and "engagement" interchangeable?
- What is the difference between proposal photography and engagement photography?
- Why would a longer session cost less than a shorter one?
- Why don't photographers just call the service "proposal photography?"
- What should you be looking for in a proposal photographer?
Even though the terms are used interchangeably by some photographers, these are actually two different services. Think about it: first you propose and then you are engaged. So it should follow that you first want proposal photography and then engagement photography.
Many proposal photographers will include a short engagement session immediately following the moment you pop the question, rolling both service into one. But if you are planning your proposal and want a photographer for the moment your partner says “yes!”, you should look for proposal photography specifically. The engagement session should be lagniappe.
A man proposing to his girlfriend in front of a fountain in Aubudon Park in New Orleans.
Proposal photography is when a photographer discreetly captures the moment you take a knee, pop the question, and get the “yes!”
Proposals are fast and ephemeral with no do-overs. The surprise element is frequently at play and emotions are running at an 11 out of 10. Proposal photography is a rather niche, highly specialized service where experience matters more than usual. Not every professional photographer will offer proposal photography.
Look at it this way, if you are about to propose and hiring a photographer as a surprise without the input of your partner, you’re looking for proposal photography.
Engagement Photography is a portrait session for after you are already engaged. If you see a service called “engagement photography” and don’t see photos of actual proposals along with the description you are likely looking at a posed portrait session.
It is common for your engagement photographer to also be your wedding photographer and many photographers include engagement sessions in their wedding packages. These sessions are often longer, allow wardrobe changes, include multiple locations, don’t include a surprise element or high emotional stakes, and frequently cost less than proposal photography.
Vibe check: if you are already engaged and are shopping for a photographer with your partner, you’re looking for engagement photography.
A man surprises his girlfriend with a candlelit marriage proposal in a New Orleans mansion filled with roses.
Excellent question! That’s because hiring a photographer for your proposal is less about the amount of time they spend behind the lens while you pop the question and more about the amount of time they spend preparing themselves AND you to be able to nail the moment. (And if they aren’t preparing you for the moment I highly recommend you keep searching!)
Longer portrait sessions allow the photographer the time to set up lighting, wait for people to clear the background (less work in post), pose you and your partner, and keep trying a shot until they get it right. That isn’t to say portrait sessions don’t require skill- they most certainly do! Especially when a lot of posing is involved. But engagement portrait sessions are low stress compared to proposal photography. The stakes are far lower and the work tends to be priced accordingly.
A man proposes to his girlfriend in a French Quarter courtyard decorated by Lady.
Another great question! This one has a slightly more nuanced answer.
The photography industry is mainly comprised of self-employed, small-business solopreneurs. Zoom out to wedding as a whole and you can include many other types of small businesses as well- planners, florists, decor rentals, tailors, venues etc. It is incredible for so many people to be able to turn their passions into thriving businesses. I think it’s one of the most beautiful parts of this industry.
But that does lead to a lot of confusion over standard practice between pros. Since the industry really isn’t driven by large corporations (hooray for that!), you get a lot of people shaping their small businesses the way they want- and that includes pricing, package offerings, and what everything is called!
A photographer may call proposal photography “engagement photography” for any number of reasons. Since there aren’t any “official” industry standards to go by, there really isn’t anything wrong with a small business going against the grain and doing things their own way. Except that it can make decision-making even more challenging for potential clients!
A man proposes to his girlfriend in New Orleans City Park with decor setup by Lady.
Now that you have a solid idea of what service you’re looking for, let’s get into how to pick a solid proposal photographer. Choosing a pro for your proposal based on an amorphous blob of information can be a rather stressful process. But if you know what to look for, you can narrow it down quickly. When you’re shopping for your proposal photographer, you should consider these five things: experience, portfolio, reviews, style, and pricing.
Experience
You want a photographer who specializes in proposal or surprise proposal photography. I don’t mean a general pro photographer who has shot a few proposals. I mean a photographer who has captured a large number of proposals and offers proposal photography as a standalone service.
Imagine someone you love needs a heart procedure. On the one hand, you have a general surgeon who has done the procedure a half dozen or so times. On the other hand, you have a cardiac surgeon who has done the procedure hundreds of times. Both are technically capable of performing the surgery. But which would you feel more confident putting your loved one’s life in the hands of- the generalist or the specialist?
Two women embrace following their proposal New Orleans French Quarter courtyard.
While the stakes are far lower for your proposal that heart surgery, it’s still a moment where experience matters. Your photographer needs to be able to adapt in the moment and pivot when needed while still catching the shot- and still staying discrete.
Portfolio
Look for photographers with a large variety of proposals in their portfolio and can clearly demonstrate their ability to capture proposals under a variety of circumstances. You want to see images of consistent quality across a variety of skin tones, body types, backgrounds, and lighting. Take note if it seems they use a lot of filters in their post-processing. While this may just be a stylistic choice, it can also be a way inexpereinced photographers hide mistakes in the exposure. More on style in a minute.
Instagram can be a way to view more updated work than a website since website updates take a lot more time and energy than Insta posts. But don’t just look through instagram. The busiest photographers often aren’t the ones updating their social media. Make sure you look through a photographer’s website, too. What they feature on their site can tell you a lot about how much energy they will invest in your proposal.
A couple kisses in an engagement session following their proposal in the New Orleans Botanical Gardens.
And don’t be fooled by the vanity metrics of follower counts and viral videos views. Those don’t always correlate to talent or professionalism!
Reviews
Read them! Most photographers feature reviews and testimonials on their websites. But definitely do your due dilligence and look up their google business listing. Don’t just look for overall star rating, look for the total number of reviews, how recent they are, and how the photographer responds to them. If a photographer has a couple of bum reviews from years ago, but they responded well to them and have had nothing but glowing reviews ever since then you can likely safely take those old reviews with a grain of salt.
Pay attention to what the reviews mention. If no one is reviewing about proposals specifically, the photographer may be new to proposals or doesn’t do enough of them to really promote the service. It’s not necessarily a red flag, just something to take note of.
Style
Photography and editing style are definitely important factors when picking your proposal photographer. But there’s a reason it’s this far down on the list. You definitely don’t want your photos looking like they came out of an instax camera if you (and more importantly, your partner!) can’t stand that vibe.
But choosing your proposal photographer based on photography style alone has the potential to be a huge mistake.
A couple smiles as the woman shows off her ring after getting engaged in Jackson Square in New Orleans.
Perhaps you like the feel of a photographer’s work but they don’t really have a lot of proposals on their website. You hire them for your proposal anyway and the photos end up… not what you had expected. Photographers who share highly stylized work likely create within an established workflow and possibly in controlled environments (this is particularly true of portrait photographers). That won’t necessarily translate to proposal photography where the photographer has minimal control over the actual moment.
Unless it is important for you to use the same photographer from proposal to wedding, prioritize skill and consistently solid work over vibes for your proposal. Go for the vibes for your engagement session.
Pricing
Sometimes, budgets are what they are and decisions have to be made with that criteria at the forefront. But even if the budget allows for a more generous investment, everyone is going to factor price into their decision making.
Photography pricing is a bit of an amorphous blob. Since we can barely even agree on what a service should be called, there’s certainly no agreement on what photography services should cost! Aside from that, pricing one’s services is a personal decision based on many factors.
A man proposes to his girlfriend in a New Orleans Cemetery.
So many elements go into the final dollar amount you see for a service- local market, cost of living, overhead, experience level, turn-around time, overall deliverables and more play into a photographer’s price. So unless your budget is tight enough that you have to go with the lowest cost option you can find, consider more than just the dollar amount when comparing pricing between photographers.
Are you looking at a large national agency that hires out the work to locals or a small business that does everything in house locally? Are you looking at a full-time pro or a weekend warrior? Is your turnaround time on images 2-4 weeks or 2-4 months? Are high-res images and a printing release included or will you have to buy prints/digital images separately? Do they assist with planning? Do they offer any guides or additional guidance to help you get ready for the moment? Do they offer day-of coordination or decor add-on’s?
Ask to see a breakdown of what is included in their packages (if they don’t offer one upfront) and don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on what something means. It isn’t rude to inquire what goes into pricing just so long as you approach is respectfully. Most photographers will happily answer your questions. We know it’s not the easiest thing to sort out. If this was all crystal clear, I wouldn’t have written this post!
For a more in-depth break down of proposal photography pricing, check out this blog post.
How would you feel if you didn’t have to spend any more time sifting through photographer websites? Wouldn’t it feel great to find everything you needed for your proposal- start to finish-in one place?
Well get ready to feel pretty amazing because that’s exactly what you just did!
I’ll help you plan the moment, capture your proposal, and hook you up with an engagement session after. With my help you can tell the stress to kick rocks and know your proposal is in good hands.