To celebrate the start of registration for my Wedding Photography Workshop in Banff National Park next year, I figured I’d give you a taste of what will be taught at the workshop! In case you haven’t heard, I’ve teamed up with Brooke from Stayclose Canada and Katelyn Smith to teach you all about wedding photography next May 28th to 30th, 2022. Besides the in-class topics like social media, workflows, and editing, we’ll be teaching you a TON of tips for posing your clients and making them comfortable! So, here are a few ideas of how to pose your clients to give you a little taste of what’ll be taught at the workshop🙌🏻
Tip #1 - Get your clients talking!
A great way to make your clients feel comfortable is to get them talking! Whether it’s to you or to each other, talking could be a good way to distract them from the fact that they have a camera shoved in their face. BUT, you don’t just want to say “ok, now talk to each other…” and leave it at that. I find a lot of times, that may stump the couple and they’ll be left feeling awkward or embarrassed that they don’t know what to say. SO, give them topics or a question to talk about! My favourite things to ask are:
What did you do together for your first date? Reminisce about it!
What do you love most about the other person? Whisper in their ear and tell them.
What is your favourite trip that you went on together?
I find it’s most helpful to give them an actual topic to chat about so they aren’t left wondering what to do! Although you may think people can just easily and naturally chat to each other when you put a camera in front of them, some can get very nervous and need all the coaching they can get!
Tip #2 - Get them moving!
I usually like to start out my sessions by getting the couple to walk around/move in different ways! Pictured to the right is a pose called the Drunk Walk, where you have you clients walk towards you but, as they’re walking, have them stumble together and pull apart as if they’re drunk. Moving around will really get the couple to loosen up and not feel so stiff! Below are a few more moving pose ideas:
For this one, have your clients stand facing each other, holding hands low at their waist and simply tell them to pull together and pull apart at different speeds.
This one is simple! Have the couple walk away from you and get one of them to look back over their shoulder at you.
Airplane arms! Have one person stand in front of the other and get them both to stick their arms out wide and grab hands. Have them walk towards you, swinging their arms around like they’re wings on an airplane. You can even add to it by telling them to act like they’re walking on a tight rope at the same time!
Tip #3 - Play music!
There’s nothing more awkward than the sound of total silence interrupted by the loud sound of a shutter clicking. Fill the silence with music! I bring along a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker to my sessions so I can play music in the background while I’m shooting. To add to this, another way to make your clients even more comfortable is playing music/songs that they like! I send out a pre-shoot questionnaire to all my couple/engagement clients and one of the questions asks what sort of music they like to listen to together, that way if they have a specific artist or song they like, I can play it during their session.
Tip #4 - Don’t be afraid to play around with your settings and focus point!
To achieve those artsy, blurry shots some photographers are getting lately, play around with your settings! Drop your shutter speed down to around 1/30, up your aperture and adjust your ISO as necessary, then get your clients moving again! Have them run, walk or even dance and capture their blurry movements. You’ll end up with some fun, romantic photos🙌🏻
Another technique to try would be focusing on something other than your subject! Try focusing on the sky or the background, this will make your clients in the foreground look softer/out of focus and give off the effect in the above and right side image.
Tip #5 - Bring along some props!
Whether it’s your pet, a bottle of champagne, or even just a blanket, including props in your session can be a great idea! If you’re unsure of what to bring, think about what you two like to do together. Do you like to play games? Bring along a board game or a deck of cards to play! Like to go skateboarding or biking together? Bring those along for some photos. Or do you enjoy simply sharing a meal together? Bring along a pizza or sushi, or even just a travel mug of coffee to share. All these props can add to the shoot and make it so much more authentic to your clients and their personalities!
That’s all for tips from me for now! I hope this post was helpful and gave you some new ideas for your next session. Please tag me in your posts/stories if you use a tip from this post so I can see what you came up with!
If you’d like to learn more posing tips, and tons of other helpful info, I’ll be teaching at the Roam Wedding Photography Workshop next May 28th to 30th, 2022 in Banff National Park! Feel free to check out the Stayclose site here for more information on the workshop and how to sign up, and don’t hesitate to reach out to me at camrynelizabethphoto@gmail.com with any questions.
