Posing for Couples: Engagements & Weddings
One of my favorite ways to pose couples is by not actually posing them at all. I love to just have them do something that forces them to interact in a natural way. Sometimes just talking to the couple and having them tell you about their personal love story or anything about them will get them to loosen up and get you some of those natural smiles and loving glances. You can also do things like have them walk or separate them and have them come back together. Little things like that you can do to help create a moment that will get you some great candid shots. You can also secretly tell one of them the next time I am setting you guys up for a picture, grab the other one’s butt or whisper something dirty in their ear. I guarantee most of the time you are going to get some great laughs and smiles.
There are lots of couples, however, who like to be posed. They like to be told what to do and where to put every part of their bodies. You should be prepared before the session with some poses that you can use. I like to do research and brainstorming a few nights beforehand and write up some notes that I bring with me to the session, because I always go brain dead and forget all my great ideas. You can come up with some great pose ideas by searching online, reading magazines, watching movies, or doing whatever else inspires you. It also helps to always carry a notebook or have somewhere on your phone that you can write down cool ideas as they come to you.
The two main aspects of posing that I am going to go into a little more depth about are ways to slim people and the importance of watching and using their hands. One of the tricks to slimming people, mainly a bride, is to use things to block parts of her body. Two things that you will most likely have on hand are the groom and the veil. By positioning the bride and groom in certain ways you can use the groom’s body to block parts of the bride. Even something as easy as having the grooms hand on the upper part of the brides arm will help to make her arm look slimmer. Try to pay attention to the bride’s arms and make sure they are not pressed up flat against her body which is not slimming to any female. You can use the veil the same way that you use the groom, by positioning it so it covers parts of her arms or upper body. Having the bride and/or groom push their shoulders back and lean forward a little also helps to slim them. Also, shooting down onto the couple helps slim them as well.
Paying attention to the hands is a very important part of posing that often gets overlooked. No matter how great of a pose or photograph you take, if their hands are stiff and awkward, it makes the whole photograph look awkward. One of the best ways to use the hands is to have the couple create intimacy with them by holding each other or touching each other’s faces. If you give their hands something to do it helps them look more natural and loving. If the pose does not lend itself well to touching, make sure that they relax their hands. For females have them lightly lay their hand on themselves or something. If one of their hands is up, have them tilt the wrist back a little to give a slight curve to their fingers which is more feminine and natural. Typically the male can have at least one hand on the female. With the other hand he can rest it lightly in his pocket, or even rest it on a wall or something. If he has a hand that is just dangling, try and do something with it.
There are so many aspects to posing, but I hope that what I have shared with you can help in some way. Sometimes little things that you never thought about before can help to bring your photographs up to a new level.
XO-JamieY
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