Posing Couples
Where do I even start on posing? I think anyone that has been shooting couples for any length of time will agree that just getting started is the hardest part of posing. In this article I am going to cover how I pose couples as well as how to build and maintain a rhythm with your clients. Its a great feeling when you connect with your clients and everyone gets on the same page. Ideally we want to operate throughout the shoot with a mutual sense of collaboration and creative input. This guide will help you convert that stiff and awkward groom into an active and excited participant.
Getting started: I make it a point to not shoot anything for the first 10 minutes or so. I want to establish some rapport with both of them. Try to get a sense of who they are individually and who they are as a couple. The more you get the know them, the more they are going to open up and the better your starting point will be. If you just show up and immediately point a camera at them you are probably going freeze them up. I think anyone reading this would agree that the first couple shots of each shoot are usually the least interesting (and that is totally fine). I recommend actually planning your shoot with a bit more time for conversation. If you only need an hour to shoot, schedule the shoot for 90 minutes so you have some time to get to know them. I really cannot stress this enough: People will not open up to the camera if they don’t open up to you first.
Bonus: This job allows us to meet so many different people from walks of life so learn as much as you can!
Getting started
So you have spent a little bit of time chatting and you guys are all ready to begin. Where to start? Well I certainly do not recommend starting with a bunch of complicated poses and prompts. Just start simple. I like to start every session the same way. Ill direct them to stand next to each other, facing me, and holding hands (or locking arms), and then we will play a word association game. This is a killer way to start because it immediately puts their minds on themselves and not the camera. Ill tell them to both blurt out the first thing that comes to their minds when I say: Wedding, maid of honor, best man, honeymoon, etc… (play around with it and try new ones at each shoot). Make your first couple of poses easy for them and make the whole session just one big conversation right from the jump.
Getting a read on their personalities
It really isn’t going to matter how striking the light is or how awesome the edit looks if the couple doesn’t look like themselves. Everyone has their own personality and if you treat your sessions with a copy-paste-repeat approach you might get awesome results sometimes but you wont be hitting the mark consistently. I encourage you to use that beginning of the shoot to get an idea of who each of them are and try to read their body language. What are they like together? Are they really flirty? Are they more stoic? Imagine you capture one of them perfectly but the other looks uncomfortable, the whole image is a wash and they won’t like it. The reason my couples are drawn to my work is because I do my best to put the groom’s masculinity and the bride’s femininity on full display together. Obviously this is applicable with same sex couples as well. You want to showcase your subject’s confidence, affection, and most importantly; how they express love to their partner. Not every couple wants to make out for the entire session and some couples absolutely do.
Ok so you have established some rapport and you have a read on your subjects? Now its time to just hit cruise control. I recommend mentally cataloging some poses and applying the appropriate poses to your couple. Then try new things in between. This is when the collaborative part comes in. Ask them how they would cuddle up on the couch at home or how they might embrace each other after some time apart. Rather than just putting them in a pose and telling them to hold still, prompt them to talk about something or act out some sort of motion. It is important that you keep a flow and stay in it. Most of my poses are some variation of them either; A.) Both facing the camera. or B.) Both facing each other. From there prompt them to interact with each other. If you want those images to be super jubilant and full of laughter, prompt them to do something funny. You could keep it simple and have them just yell curse words or quietly whisper funny things to each other. If you have them facing you and you want all the smiles, you could tell them a joke. Basically, if you want them looking at each other, have them interact with each other. If you want them looking at the camera, have them interact with you. This all works the same if you want a more serious tone. If you want the images to have an emotional and intimate look, ask them some of the more serious questions. Ask them about some of the hardships they have faced together. Like I said, get to know them and really try to understand who they are. The more you know about them the better you are going to capture their authentic selves (and the more they are going to feel comfortable in the process).
I am sure a lot of you came here expecting a list of poses. I don’t have one for you. Like I mentioned earlier, my starting point is either A. Facing each other. B. Facing me. From there you should tap into your creativity and what you know about this couple and start posing them. If you are looking for specific poses, I recommend finding images you like on Instagram or Pinterest and saving them. If you make a habit of saving the work that inspires you, your work will naturally start to take that shape. Take chances but don’t force something that isn’t working. I try new things at every shoot and a lot of the time it just isn’t working so I pivot and try something else. If the couple isn’t feeling the pose you put them in it is going to be rather obvious. Thats ok, just quickly move on and get back into that rhythm. I usually shoot my best work of each shoot at the end. Why? because we have built a rapport and a rhythm.
