Downtown Detroit Engagement Pictures
Z Lot Downtown Detroit Engagement Pictures with Nikki and Pete taken by Kellie Saunders, a leading Detroit wedding photographer.
Now that the sun has FINALLY arrived in our fine state of Michigan, it's time for some spring engagement session blogging! I wasn't able to blog everything last year as I did a lot of traveling with my family and a few destination weddings, but I'm happy that I have some time to catch up now. I was just finishing up Nikki and Pete's wedding album design and thought this would be a perfect time to revisit their engagement session, especially in case some other couples want to see how much fun you can have at the Z Lot in Detroit! Even though this session wasn't that long ago (technically only about a year), I've heard rumors that the Z Lot may require special permission or a permit these days. At the time of this engagement shoot they did not require a permit, but things are quickly changing in the city and the places we were once able to use for engagement photos are not always available. It's important that no matter who you are working with for your wedding and engagement photos you double check your locations in case permits or permission is required so you aren't disappointed if you get turned away.
What I loved the most about Pete and Nikki was their fun spirit and ability to just go with the flow! They wanted to bring their cute pooch - who I LOVED by the way, but my advice is to always make sure you have a dog handler with you. The part of and engagement session with dogs is usually only a small portion of the entire session, so you'll need someone to hold onto the doggie while we are working on all of the other photos you need. Pete brought his best man with him to the session who was our "dog handler". He did a great job too!
We started our photo session on the roof top of the Z Lot parking garage. The sun was out at full blast and I wanted to try out my new lights to see how much power I could draw from them. I had recently made the switch from Nikon speedlights to Godox and I can say I absolutely LOVE them. The reason for the switch (for any photographers reading this) was simply because Godox offers a wireless remote inside their flash unit for about a third of the price of Nikon units and they work flawlessly with their other lights. I only use Godox now. The first couple of photos were taken with one speedlight, bare bulb and I think it did a great job for me! The rest of the session was natural light which I prefer if possible, but I also like to jazz things up with light once in awhile.
We stayed close to the Z lot since we had the pampered pooch with us but we still had a great time!!! I'll post photos from their wedding in the upcoming weeks so you can see what an amazing wedding day they had!!! Congrats Pete and Nikki!!!! Thanks so much for working with me and for the wine and chocolate! I absolutely loved it!!!!
The worlds BEST man!!!! Complete with his handbag and pet pooch!
