So, we decided, yeah, let’s get some of those “couple pictures in love.” You know, the ones you see everywhere. Seemed like a good idea at the time, right? We weren’t really celebrating anything specific, just felt like it was time to have some decent photos of us not looking like we just rolled out of bed, or at least, intentionally looking good together. It’s funny how you think it’s gonna be super easy, but then reality hits.
Getting Started – The “Plan”
Okay, “plan” is a strong word. It was more like, “Hey, wanna do this on Saturday?” And the other person goes, “Sure, why not?” That was pretty much the extent of our initial planning. I did spend a bit of time, maybe an hour or two, scrolling through some photo sites. You know, looking for inspiration. Saw a lot of super cheesy stuff, and also some genuinely nice ideas. We definitely didn’t want anything too staged, that’s for sure. We just wanted to capture us, being us.
Then came the outfit dilemma. This was a whole thing. Trying to find clothes that looked good together but weren’t, like, super matchy-matchy. We pulled out half our wardrobes. There were clothes everywhere. I swear, my room looked like a clothing store exploded. Eventually, we settled on something simple. Jeans, plain tops. Figured we couldn’t go too wrong with that. Kept it casual, because that’s more our style anyway.
The Big Day – Lights, Camera, Awkwardness!
We picked a local park. Nice and green, some decent trees, a little pond. Thought it would be a good backdrop. We just used my phone, by the way. No fancy camera here. I figured modern phones are pretty good, and who wants to lug around a big DSLR anyway, especially when you’re trying to look natural and not like you’re on a professional shoot? Plus, we got one of those little tripod things, the bendy ones, and a Bluetooth clicker. Game changer, that clicker. Seriously, if you’re doing this yourself, get one.
So we get to the park, set up the tripod. And then… awkward silence. What do we do? How do “couples in love” actually pose? We tried some of the ideas I’d seen.
- Holding hands and walking – ended up looking like we were rushing to the bathroom, or like one of us was dragging the other.
- Leaning against a tree – one of us always looked like they were about to fall over, or like the tree was holding us hostage.
- The classic “look into each other’s eyes” – mostly ended up with us bursting into laughter because it felt so forced at first. It’s harder than it looks!
Honestly, the first half hour was a bit of a disaster. Lots of weird faces, closed eyes, and just generally looking uncomfortable. The clicker was getting a workout, though. We took tons of photos, figuring a few had to be good, right? That’s the spray-and-pray method of photography. You just hope for the best.
Finding Our Groove (Sort Of)
After a while, we kind of just started messing around. Stopped trying so hard to “pose.” We were just talking, laughing about how bad we were at this whole modeling thing. And wouldn’t you know it, some of those candid moments, those were the ones that started to look… good. More natural, anyway. It’s like the camera finally caught us when we weren’t paying attention to it.
The key, I think, was to forget we were taking pictures. Easier said than done, I know. But when we were just interacting, maybe I’d tell a dumb joke, or she’d fix my collar, those moments felt more real. We even got a few decent shots where we were just sitting on a bench, chatting, looking out at the water. Nothing fancy, but it felt like “us.” That’s what we wanted all along.
We spent maybe an hour and a half out there. Took a break, got some water. The weather was nice, which helped a lot. If it had been super hot or raining, I think we would have given up much sooner and just gone for pizza.
The Aftermath – Sifting Through the Evidence
Got home, dumped all the photos onto the computer. Hundreds of them. And let me tell you, going through them was an experience in itself. So many duds! Photos where one of us is mid-blink, or making a weird face that we didn’t even know we could make, or a random dog walker strolled right into the background. Classic stuff.
But, buried in there, we found a few gems. Maybe ten or fifteen photos that we actually really liked. They weren’t perfect, not like those professional shots you see on Instagram. But they were our photos. They captured a bit of our goofiness, our connection, and yeah, maybe a little bit of that “in love” vibe we were aiming for, even if it was mostly by accident while we were trying to figure out what to do.
We did some basic editing on them. Just a bit of brightening, maybe played with the contrast a little, a filter here and there on a couple. Nothing too crazy. Didn’t want to make them look fake or overprocessed. Just wanted them to look like the best version of the moment.
So, yeah. That was our adventure in taking “couple pictures in love.” It was a bit more effort than I initially thought, definitely more awkward at times, but also kind of fun in the end. And we got some decent photos out of it, which is what we wanted. Would I do it again? Maybe. But next time, I’m definitely bringing snacks. And maybe not trying so hard to pose like we’re in a magazine. Just be ourselves, laugh a lot. That seems to be the trick to it all.
