Photography Posing Basics: A Guide for Couples – Part II

In part I, we discussed some basic ideas behind good posing, aimed at providing you with enough of a foundation to approach your engagement shoot or wedding with confidence. In this last part, you’ll learn about what I believe is one of the most important elements in creating truly great, authentic, real photographs of couples: showing connection.

Of all the things that matter to us in this world, we treasure the people we love and care about the most. Whether it is a son, daughter, wife, husband, mother, father, significant other, or fiancé, we absolutely treasure the connections we have with these people and we express that by showing affection through kissing, embracing, holding hands, loving looks, gentle touch, romantic strolls… And while showing affection in private can be relatively easy for couples, showing affection in public or in front of a camera can be a different story altogether.

All too often, when we are in front of a camera, we either forget or we repress that basic, instinctual desire to express our affection – our connection to the one(s) we love. The reasons can be fairly complex and manifold, and so, to avoid delving too far off topic, I’ll just touch on them here. Perhaps it is nervousness about being in front of other people and not knowing what actually looks good that causes us to hold off on what we’d normally do. And so we simply wait for instructions from the photographer… Or maybe it is just simply habit – whenever we see a camera, our default reaction is to smile for it. After all, we’ve been conditioned to do that as far back as any of us can remember. Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with smiling for the camera, but when it comes to showing your connection to the one you love, there is a much, much more powerful, impactful, and authentic way to pose…

To create authentic, powerful images, I’ve developed my own unique brand of emotive, organic posing. It’s emotive because you will see the genuine, authentic emotion in the pose and expressions. Such as the way he gently holds your hands while you lean into him and he lightly kisses your cheek, as you snuggle into him even more, enjoying the safety and warmth of his arms… Or the way you look lovingly into each other’s eyes as you gently use your hands on his neck to bring him in closer, or the way you embrace when you kiss…

And it’s organic because it flows, moves, and evolves with you… I won’t just tell you to put your hands, bodies, and faces in a certain spot and just hold it there each time, I’ll also give you parameters around which to move into the version of the pose that fits you. We’re all different and what works for one couple won’t always work the same way for another couple. Sometimes height differences necessitate a different approach or a different pose altogether. Or perhaps it is about finding the version of the pose that fits a particular couple’s personalities. That’s one of the things I love about engagement sessions – seeing where each couple goes with the pose to make it unique to them and their unique love, their unique connection. There are so many beautifully natural ways to show connection between two people through expression and body language. Your engagement session is the perfect exploration of that with your photographer (as opposed to your wedding day)!

So, one of the primary things I’ll do when photographing you as a couple is to show this connection through hand, face, and body placement. I’ll educated you ahead of time in guides such as these, when we talk before your photography session, and then talk you through it during your session. Before long, you will be posing beautifully and this will carry over on your wedding day as well! It won’t look like I posed you. Rather, it will look authentic, real, and super dreamy, like you just came into the pose as a natural part of showing your connection and your love for each other.

Lastly, I’ll be constantly combining my emotive, organic posing with gorgeous scenery, and beautiful natural lighting to create something truly epic for you. And we’ll have so much fun in the process!

Thank you for reading and I can’t wait to work with you! Engagement sessions with me are truly an amazing experience, something you will always look back on fondly. Let’s rock it out there!