The Basic Guide to Posing Couples

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Posing a model is by far one of the scariest and most difficult tasks that photographers of all levels have to face. It is especially tough for beginners. Setting your camera and choosing the right lens is one thing, telling people how to stand in front of your camera is another.

It can be fairly intimidating, especially if you don’t have an outgoing personality. But nevertheless, shyness is an obstacle you have to cross if you want to shoot couples. Whether it’s with professional intentions or your friends just want some great memories, here is a quick guide that will help you.

Help them connect

It goes without saying that people in love have a great connection, but everything changes when they’re put in front of the camera. They individually become aware that something is very different and being intimate with each other, and sharing a certain look or a kiss will seem a lot harder and unnatural. It’s human nature to feel awkward when someone is asking you to kiss your future husband/wife even though you’re aching to do it, or just having a fun Valentine’s Day photo shoot together.

The most important thing is to establish a good connection with the couple before you photograph them. Share a few jokes or a funny memory, make them feel comfortable around you and see you as a friend. That will help them loosen up a lot quicker.

Keep them in line

Couple portraits are best shot with long lenses and a wide aperture. You want that shallow depth of field to blur the background. However you have to be careful not to have one person in focus and the other one blurred. Have them stand in the same line.

Encourage them to be more confident

It might not be a very nice thing to say, but some people have an incorrect posture regardless of whether or not they have a camera pointed at them. Men look good in confident poses, with their chest up and their back straight. If you plan on starting a portrait or wedding photography business, you’re definitely going to come across clients with less than manly postures. Encourage them to adopt a manlier pose and I guarantee they’ll love the result. I like to use a trick to achieve this goal. I usually have clients like this imagine they’re opera singers on a stage. It’s funny enough to make them smile and it also works in getting the pose I want.

Never underestimate a smile

Wedding and engagement photography has its trends like most genres. What we’re seeing now is very poetic and intimate and it’s great. But it just seems like a lot of photographers are copying each other and you can easily tell that from their photos. Couples look way too serious in these photos in my opinion. There’s nothing like a genuine smile to make you keep your eyes on a photo. Have your clients smile and laugh as much as possible because those are the kind of photos they’ll cherish the most as the years pass. Just make sure you don’t try to get a smile by asking them to smile because that’s a sure way to ruin the shoot.

Here is a video from Craig Beckta Photography with some more useful tips.

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