My experience posing for a professional photographer is mostly limited to school photos featuring bad bangs and a faux bookcase background (at least my mom sheltered me from those horrible laser backdrops so many kids thought were cool in the '90s). I've also posed for many family portraits and sports team photos in my day. But nothing like what I experienced yesterday.

As BK and I drove into the city for a complimentary engagement photo session I was unsure what to expect, a bit anxious and hoping to keep my hair and makeup in tact.

I've browsed through my share of engagement photos on my wedding photographer's blog and on friends' Facebook profiles. The featured couples always look so relaxed and in sync.

He's giving her a piggy back ride and it somehow looks cute instead of creepy. I could never come off that cool, I've always thought. We don't typically engage in P.D.A. and he never holds me like a baby so how was this going to work? My plan of attack was to keep the awkwardness to a minimum. I'm pleased to say I think we accomplished that.

My photographer, Jennifer Childress is simply fabulous at her job -- a real pro -- and that definitely helped. She warmed us up with a few individual shots and then a few minutes into our together shots we'd gotten used to having the camera around. We took Jenn's advice when she told us to make everything real, not a pose. "Now I believe you," she said.

A few minutes after that she told me I was a pro. Hardly, I thought. But I had at least mastered the ability to switch back and forth between an all-out smile and more of a straight face; to know when it was the right time to look up at BK and when to look directly at the camera; and when to put my arms around him and when to put our heads together.

It sounds like so much going on at once, but with the right photographer and a great setting, anyone can make it work.

If your photographer doesn't already offer this service, I strongly suggest brides-to-be to set up an engagement photo session. It's an opportunity to get to know your photog before the wedding and to understand how she works. It's also great practice for the big day.

I don't take myself seriously enough to be able to pull off a sultry pose without laughing. I also don't really know how to not smile. A friend who took the headshot seen on this blog can attest to that. After so many attempts at straight-faced, serious shots we decided to bag that look altogether and go with the smile, which comes much more naturally to me.

Once I got rolling yesterday I better understood what made me feel comfortable as a photo subject and the whole thing didn't seem so intimidating anymore. It was great to get our feet wet before the wedding day and at the same time make new memories.

For our engagement photos we went back to the Art Museum area, where BK proposed, and stood in the pavilion across the street where he knelt down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. We dodged all of the Rocky imitators and got some great shots on those famous steps. We even pushed our way through tree branches to pose in green areas and climbed hills (with me in heels, of course) to get the right shot.

After Jenn snapped the last shot we decided not to leave the city just yet -- not without treating ourselves to a delicious dinner at Davio's. And of course the cherry on top of this great day was returning home to Bentley.