So, as your upcoming Couple Portrait Session or your Wedding day is getting closer and closer by the day. Your thoughts might start to wander about the photographs and how to act around the camera? I know many of my couples want to have photographs of their big day but they are themselves shy of the camera. Just smash these 5 stress free poses and you will rock your wedding day!
I am often told “I don't know how to act” “I just freeze when I'm in front of a camera” or even “we will just look stupid but we will try as were are yet to have a photo together that we like”.
Thankfully it isn’t always like that and have to be awkward at all, in-fact most of my clients say they love how natural and simple it all was on their Couple Portrait Session or on their wedding day itself. For the most part of you’re wedding day, couple photos will only take up 20-45 minutes, depending on how many you would like taken and what the weather is like. Half of the time we just go and do them so you can have some alone time away from uncle Bob and aunty Mavis with their Coolpix point and shoot camera in your face… All. Day. Long!
My couple portrait sessions are done in a more relaxed environment but I use them to teach the below guidelines, so my clients know what to expect on their big day, so that on the day it’s self we are all chilled out, enjoying it and with no anxiety about the photos at all. Trust me I’ve got this!
(check out the outtakes)
Be natural.
It sounds simple but it really isn't for some of us, after all my natural habitat is in front of my computer editing while drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee while eating biscuits! That won't look great in photos… The natural we are after is simple. Real smiles, real laughs and real fun. Stiff boring photos are in the past!
I usually walk with my couple for the first few minutes of a couple portrait sessions and simply talk about the upcoming day or, like a true brit, the weather… I'm basically a stranger after all. Knocking down walls are what I need to do to create a great photo. The aim of a great portrait, after all, is to fool the viewer that there is no photographer.
After this, we will come to a stop and I will explain the below 5 poses, and I will show the gorgeous couple just how easy it all is. Below is the 5 basic poses that every pose in a magazine or blog etc is based on for a couple. We also play lots of games to get those smiles big a bright and to show off the natural you!
Are you ready?! Cool, let's do this!
The 5 poses!
V-up:
This is the pose you see on every red carpet couple shot you've ever seen! Its nice, natural and shows you both off equally. It's also a great starting point for two other poses, more on that later.
To achieve this pose it's really simple. Stand next to each other at an angle, shoulder to shoulder. One person wraps their arm around the back of the other. This will be our hinge and the foundation of the next two poses.
Open:
Let's open up that hinge. We want you to be side by side feet level with each other facing the same way.
Closed:
Ok, so two down! Told you this is easy. Now we're going to do the opposite, remember that hinge? well, keep it where it is and close up that pose so you're face to face with your feet in towards each other.
Stacked:
Getting a little bit more complicated now, One of you stand in front of the other so your back is to their chest. Ideally, you want to be slightly to one side of them. A great way around this is to overlap your feet. Wrap your arms around each other and Tada pose number 4 complete!
Reversed:
Now its time to let go of each other now, don’t worry ill get you back together soon! This pose can be done in two ways, fancy huh?!
Firstly, like the open pose stand side by side and one of you turn around. Depending on the vibes we can just stand or the one facing the camera can embrace the other. It's also a great time to look at each other as those little glimpses really get shown off in this pose and its great to get up and close with the camera to see those raw emotions of you both.
Its rare ill bash the second reverse pose out the park I won't lie but sometimes it can be ace! Simply turn back to back and relax. Maybe push the boat out and hold each other's hand while looking into the distance with purpose… Here's that pose with utter beauts who travelled over to The Lake District from Singapore!
And that's it! That's the 5 poses that EVERYTHING is based on. Easy right?! So why are you worrying?! If you want to know even more about it all then why not continue reading below where we will get into more detail about poses and why we do what we do!
You can always contact me about your wedding day photography or for a simple Couple Portrait Session I'm always happy to help!
You may have noticed that the above poses are simply where to stand. They're not really directions on what to do while standing. That's because this changes for every couple. However, we can make different moods just by simple changes to your actions.
Touchpoints!
So how romantic a photograph is or how arty it is, pretty much comes down to one thing, touch points. In short, the more places you're both touching the more romantic it is and the less, the less romantic and the artier it becomes.
More = Romantic
Even though in this photograph they are not kissing, which is an intimate thing, it's the touch points of the body that are romantic not the kiss itself. I'll prove this with the below photograph.
Less = Arty/ Whimsical
Even though they are kissing on the lips the bodies are far apart which doesn't feel intimate or secretive. It's actually quite extravagant and out there. Let alone a tad awkward, another reason I don't do this type of shot often, if at all. This is more of a classic posing. The intimate close up real life stuff is a rather contemporary look at photography and couples.
Body Lingo:
Ok, we all know body language is huge and while I would hope you're comfy with your partner to be yourself, I do see some awful poses that are beyond normal. So keep these things in mind…
Head angle:
Believe it or not but your head angle does affect things. If your body is saying you're nice and snuggly but your head is stiff and upright to the camera it doesn't work. Keep it loose and go with the flow. Feel free to get snuggly! I won't stop you, it will make a beautiful photo.
In = closeness
Out = Distance
Lastly, My job as a wedding photographer is to document a wedding day as accurately as possible and also to create some great photos of the married couple. I use all of the above to do this but I can still go further by asking the couple to look in different directions.
To a photographer, there are 3 main points of interest to us when creating portraits, Your eyes, Chin and your chest. Moving how these are presented to the camera totally changes the weight of the image and it points the viewer to read it differently as well.
3 points.
For example, If you stand flat towards the camera, in an open pose, that would show all three points. Your eyes would be directly open to the camera, your chin would be flat and so would your chest. It's a very open pose and it can actually be quite an empowering pose. It lays everything on the table.
An example for a couple would be this:
2 points.
If we moved only one point, your eyes and pointed them down. All of the sudden it becomes a gentle almost candid portrait full of emotions and vulnerability yet the focus is mainly on your clothes. We get an idea of the type of person you are. Open up a fashion magazine, you will see most catalogues and magazine photographs don't include eye contact. It's this very reason. They want to show a lifestyle, not a model.
An example for a couple would be this:
1 point.
Closing off all points besides the eyes leads us down another feel and weight to the image. The tide has certainly changed to a more intimate moment captured on camera.
An example for a couple would be this:
0 Points.
When we close everything off, remember the closed position, well now you really know why it's called that. The photograph becomes all consuming about the couple and nothing else. All we care about is the connection between them.
An example for a couple would be this:
Now, All of this is just a taster and the basic poses and positions to go from but if you nail these 5 positions your photographer will love you! Like I say I explain a lot of this on my shoots and during them as well as it creates fantastic imagery. I or your photographer will probably use these and then add to them slightly with adjustments here and there to fit their style but it will all come down to these 5 stress-free poses!
Thank you for reading and watching! I really hope It has been of use to you all! As always you can contact me about your wedding day photography or for a simple Couple Portrait Session I'm always happy to help!
