Attention all couples! Married, engaged, or just in love—we have the most exciting news for the lovebirds.💜 Our annual free couple photoshoot contest, RomancEd, is now open for the 15th year! Are you creative, offbeat, and resourceful? If you think you have an original and cool idea, we invite you to participate. Show us your best vision for a couple photoshoot, and Zorz Studios will make it happen for you free of charge, even covering your wedding day if you're engaged!
Let your imagination run wild and create the most incredible couple photography portrait you can think of! Think of a location, a theme, and the characters that will make viewers' hearts beat faster. Check out the video of our previous couple photography projects below to get the creative juices flowing! We'd love to make your vision a reality—all the more daring, the better! We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Free Couple Photoshoot Prizes
- 🏆 Grand prize - all-day photography or videography (couple photoshoot or a wedding)
- 🏅 Runner-up - 2-hour free couple photoshoot
Who Can Enter the Contest?
All couples of legal age and in a relationship, engaged, or married are cordially invited! If you're not interested, your friends might be, so spread the word! They'll be thankful to you if their free couple photoshoot turns out well. As a destination photographer, I'm open to people from all over the country and the world if they're willing to pay for my reasonable travel and accommodation expenses. In a recent contest, the winners were from New Orleans, LA (we did their mermaid couple photography in Jamaica) and Toronto, Canada! A couple from France entered, too (they didn't win, but we were still commissioned to do their countryside wedding in France).
Let's make this a fun and daring grown-up experience! For that reason, kids and family sessions are not allowed. Maybe, another contest...
What Does It Take to Win?
If your vision is daring and ambitious, you can get the work done at no cost! Are you a fan of role-playing? So am I! If fashion is your thing, my photography experience in commercial and fashion areas will give you the visual satisfaction you seek. If you're an audacious person, meet Ed! Do you prefer quiet moments and long for Renaissance style? I frequently stay up late in the office with classical music playing in the background.
But please don't think I'll do this for free in exchange for just a few generic words and a beaten idea... For my complimentary efforts and skills, please invest some time and bring a comprehensive, captivating, and unique concept. If you're stuck, I can come up with ideas, but then I'll have to charge my regular creative fee.
To give you an idea of what triggers me, here's a partial list of abbreviated concepts that caught my attention in the past contests (some made it to the finalists, some won and were shot):
- braving the elements and Mother Nature wrath, anything representing great love showcased by water, fire, earth, air, etc.
- a walk through the streets of old New York in the style of 1930's film noir
- painting the walls of the new apartment and getting messy
- a wicked might in Narnia
- inspired by Dita Von Teese and Marilyn Manson's 2006 Vogue cover with the perfect backdrop of the Viscaya Mansion
- love of steampunk with a shot on a train at the local train museum
- medieval romantic painting, La belle dame sans merci
- aurora lights in Iceland
- Bollywood-inspired (movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) in open fields with yellow flowers
- one of the most prominent relationships in Greek mythology, the love story of Aphrodite and Adonis
- on the edge of serious and playful, badass and gritty with some subtle flintiness: he's welding something to create a lot of sparks, and she's doing a burnout on her bike
- two enemy spies falling in love in a very Mr. and Mrs. Smith-style shoot
- a vintage military-inspired photo shoot with old-school pin-up flare
- super cool stylized Viking shoot rocking killer Viking braids
- mermaiding the bioluminescent waters at night in Jamaica
- skydiver's love in the air and the drop zone
- wedding ceremony underwater
For a visual inspiration, watch this video 
to see what I've done for our past couple photography clients!
What's Next?
🛑 First, please carefully read each of the rules at the bottom. They apply to our free couple photoshoot, no kidding :) Next, fill out the entry form on this page.
We'll announce our finalists for the free couple photography contest on this page and open it to the public to vote. Then, we'll invite all our social media followers for their say. You're also encouraged to rally your families, friends, and even extended networks to cast their votes.
- Entries accepted through January 31, 2024
- Finalists selected, public voting begins February 4, 2024
- Voting ends February 13, 2024
- Votes and conditions validated, winners announced February 14, 2024
Let's make a splash! Don't keep this to yourself - share the news with your social circle! Tag all your buddies, family, and neighbors, or use the share buttons on this page.
Would you like to try this free couple photoshoot later? Or perhaps participate in a different competition? We have sweepstakes going on all year round, so make sure to follow Zorz Studios' Facebook page or sign up for our newsletter to stay informed!
THE RESULTS ARE IN!
First place: full-day photoshoot
Nithley and Josh: Till Death Do Us (Zombies) Part
After fighting a long and arduous battle, Nithley and Josh succumb to their mortal wounds and pass on to the other side. However, their story does not end there; after crossing over into the afterlife, they arise from the grave and find each other once again. Zombie lovers in NYC, destined to be together for all eternity.
+ 110 votes
Second place: 2-hr photoshoot
Tara: Not Safe for Work
A husband is trying to work from home, stay on task, and make a living. The hardworking man is all business and is on calls/Zoom meetings, etc. His stay-at-home wife keeps trying to keep him from working. He’s working on his computer, but his sexy wife won’t relent in trying to seduce, entice, and distract him. He finally is forced to succumb to her flirtatious ways.
+ 36 votes
Runner-ups
To cheer up the remaining three finalists, we’ll be making sweet offers to them, too!
Sophia: Valentine’s Day Romance
Looking to have a unique photoshoot with my husband. We have done the engagement, wedding photos, and even photos with a baby girl. Now looking for something fun and romantic with my hubby. A sexy romantic photoshoot for Valentine’s Day.
+ 30 votes
Shasheila: Underwater Moon Conspiracy Theory
Almost like the conspiracy theory that astronauts don’t go to space through the sky, they go to space from the ocean. A lot of nice sparkling silvers and greens into a space suit helmet. A view from the bottom shows the astronauts swim up and end up on the moon with an American flag showing “we made it”. Lots of stars and galaxies as a background like we are being pulled into a simulator into a new world.
+ 5 votes
Michele: Fireworks Over the Boat
Shot up over a large pond. I would love to find a vintage, wooden row boat or old birch canoe and row out to the center of the pond to watch the fireworks. Think reflections. Think silhouettes. Think editorial. Mountains in background, no light pollution. Beautiful summer evening.
+ 4 votes
Do we deserve a “follow”? 😛
Ahem, if you think we deserve a pat on the shoulder for offering free photography to couples, would you follow our Facebook page or Instagram? This will encourage us to keep doing it.
Contest Rules
- All couples qualify—engaged, married, or simply in love, of all shapes and forms! When one partner decides to enter, please ensure that the other is on board and will cooperate equally on the concept.
- Engaged wedding clients already booked with Zorz Studios or another studio are welcome to enter but are eligible to win an engagement session only if it is not included in the package yet.
- Entrants need to bring a fully developed, intriguing, and original idea for the couples photoshoot, and provide the resources for its realization.
- Zorz Studios reserves the right to decline free service if, after the contest, the couple changes or waters down the winning concept to what would not have qualified for the final round. That would miss the whole point of our giveaway!
- The studio picks the shortlist of finalists, and then the two winners are determined by voters.
- Winners must respond within 48 hours, or their prize will be given to another finalist.
- The first prize is a free couple photoshoot, either photography or videography, for up to 8 consecutive hours in one day. This could be a wedding, too! If more hours are needed, or the shoot spans multiple days, extra time or hours on another day are billable.
- Free couple photoshoot must take place within nine months of the winning; a generously discounted service fee is offered afterward. There is no time limitation for a wedding day within reason.
- Free photography or videography services cover the time of one professional and basic photo processing or video editing. Additional services and products, such as advanced retouching and editing, albums, prints, highlight videos, music clips, etc., are optional.
- Third-party fees are optional and likely to occur, being the couple's responsibility (e.g., permits, rentals, props, transportation around or out of NYC, accommodations if needed).
- Prizes may not be exchanged or transferred; no cash alternative or studio credit can be given.
- To cover the wedding for free, Zorz Studios' lead photographer or videographer must not be already booked on the winners' date at the time of contest completion. The studio reserves the right to accept another client's paid booking on the winners' wedding date after the contest but, in this case, will provide the wedding day coverage by an associate photographer or videographer.
- If, for any reason, including force majeure events, the winning wedding date is rescheduled, upholding the prize will be at the studio's discretion based on availability and other factors.
- This free couple photoshoot is our lead photographer's personal outreach and volunteering. For weddings, there is no contract or legal obligation: if he becomes seriously ill or otherwise impaired on your wedding day, his coverage will not be possible. An optional substitution may be arranged for a minimal fee, much lower than our regular wedding prices.
- Entrants must be willing to appear publicly on Zorz Studios' social media platforms with their story written at the studio's discretion.
- In return for our effort, the winning couples will actively help us promote the imagery on their personal social platforms by sharing, re-posting, and allowing us to tag. Full credit and link to Zorz Studios website needs to be given.
- There is no unpublishing of the winning story on Zorz Studios' blog or any social media channels. If you part your way with the partner in visual crime, the story stays as compensation for our unpaid time, skills, and efforts.
