This year on Valentine’s Day, forget the flowers and chocolate and go for a romantic photo session to celebrate your love.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day by reinventing the traditional romantic photo. Print out your loving words on a greeting card or a canvas. It’s a simple, yet stunning, gift that will melt the heart of your better half. But first, get inspired by our suggestions for romantic photo sessions.

The backlight

Snapping a shot of silhouettes in the evening glow is a wonderful romantic photo. Ask the couple to stand in the backlight, turn off your flash and use the “backlight” mode. You can also use spot metering on the background light.

The kiss

A close-up shot (using a telephoto) or a wider view of a kiss is a classic picture that will never go out of style. Simply time your photo at the right moment so that each person’s eyes are either fully closed or open.

The reinvented heart

Why not play around with the universal symbol of love? Here are a few ideas:

• Join hands in the shape of an heart
• Use light painting to create a heart in the night.
• Stick some paper hearts on a wall and stand on either side: one person blows on them while the other pretends to catch them. 

Romantic black and white

It’s no secret: black and white instantly adds a touch of romance to any photo and makes us all look better. It’s best to choose a scene with sharp contrasts of light. Want to make a colour stand out, like a red heart for instance? Take the photo in colour before working on it on your computer. A few camera modes now also offer the "creative mode". Choose the colour accent feature and the camera does the job on its own.

Intimate portraits

Why pick one photo when you can tell a story? She runs into his arms as a friend clicks away in burst or sports mode for a series of shots. Or opt for some photo booth type shots that you can print out in wallet-size to take them with you everywhere you go.