There are places that we’ve all been to countless times that take on a totally different look and feel when they are empty. Imagine a packed music venue with one of your favorite bands playing. There’s a line for the bar, a smidgen of standing room only space on the outskirts of the main floor and the occasional burst of bright light as someone captures a photo of the band on stage. This is normally what it’s like at the Metro Chicago.

Melissa and Ryan have been to this venue for a number of dates and deemed it an excellent spot to kick off their engagement session! Now music and large venues are very cool, but understand that your images will be very different from a fully packed rock concert. You have this extra large space in which to work but now it’s just the two of you. It’s perfect for featuring everything from the architecture, decor and in this case some show posters. The other issue with big or busy venues is that if they do give you permission to shoot there, you are usually going to be on a slightly tighter schedule. Take some time to go over your ideas with your fiance and photographer so that you walk in knowing the images that you want to capture. This isn’t to say that you can’t divert from the plan, but it’s better to have one going in than to not have one at all.

After their session we headed off to some other locations around Wicker Park including Stan’s Donuts and Reckless Records

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Metro Chicago Engagement

Stan's Donuts

Reckless Records

Reckless Records

Reckless Records

Reckless Records