Last fall, Tanja Lippert took some e-pics that came to be immortalized as the “Chicken Suit and Naked Chick” series. The pics made her the talk of photo conferences across the land, and rightly so. And the subjects came to be known in internet vernacular as “that smoking-hot D&D guy” and “the chick with the amazing bod and all the model friends.”
This is what a typical engagement pic looks like, in case your brain was parked in CSI land for the past ten years and took a pass. Don’t get me wrong, this is a beautiful couple with a sweet shot.
BUT. This is what the Chicken Suit pics look like. Of course, if you prefer your e-pic subjects clothed, they did those too, which are also generally admitted to be amazing.
All those American heebie-jeebies about nudity aside, the Chicken shoot taught us something.
When you go to bridal shows and get beaten over the head with vendor offerings and contests, e-pics quickly become something to check off the list. After all, they have a dull history: something you’d slip to the paper to be reproduced in all its dark, grainy glory to notify your parents’ friends. A wedding mug shot.
So, couples don’t experiment much with e-pics. As for photographers: let’s face it … bored stiff.
What this couple realized is that e-pics can and maybe should take more risks.
Let’s say you invested in one of those fab photographers like Tanja, because you really want a fine visual record, one that moves you years later, without those crappy soft-focus filters.
Chances are, this is best photographer you’ll ever engage in your life. This is also one of the freest shoots you’ll ever have. At your wedding, you’ll have to cram in the shots during cocktail hour. You’ll be half-crazed. Here, you can unwind, take your time.
At your wedding, you’re wearing The Dress, or maybe two. But here you can flirt with all sorts of sartorial silliness.
And let’s be honest: youth is beautiful. You as a couple are the best-looking you’ll ever be, this minute. 20th anniversary photos will be touching for sure, but nothing else save the wedding will capture the luminosity you’ve got right now — which you probably don’t even know you have.
No, you’re probably busy saying, “gad, I need to lose fifteen pounds!” and pinching your belly. Meanwhile, your skin is glowing, your eyes are shining, you’re all pumped full of natural collagen. But you probably won’t appreciate that until you look back fifteen years later.
None of this is to say that e-pics should be yet one more area where a bride feels compelled to out-stylize the next, God no.
But if you see these pics and feel that little flutter inside, like hey! I coulda done that, or Oh my God I LOVE that couple!, then consider bringing a little more of yourself to that shoot for two you’ve got planned.
‘Cuz this one shows that you can actually get shots of the human spirit on your e-pic day.
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