Education

September 30, 2019

Posing the "Unposed"

Hey y'all! How many of you love those images that seem to be just a captured moment in time? I know for a fact that I do. These images tell stories. Stories that the image itself tell. But capturing these types of images can be tricky sometimes. I know that this was one of the things that I struggled with earlier during the start of my business. We all know that its much easier to tell the client to stand there and look pretty, but does that actually butter your biscuit? 
Some of the most eye catching images are the kind that seem to be so unposed within themselves. These are my most favorite. There are many different methods to capturing these types of images, but the most common are usually the easiest to manipulate to your liking. You have to ask yourself... What is the look that I (as the photographer) want? My particular look is that timeless look. The look where you look at the images and can tell that they weren't planned in the slightest. That "cant recreate this" look. 
Make your images tell a story. What was really happening in the image? Make people ask the questions like "what was so funny?" or "what were they talking about?". These are the best types of images in my book. There are ways to make this type of "non posing" easier. They can be described in steps. So grab your favorite cup of joe, a nice soft blanket, and a nice snack. This might be a long blog post.

The main way I achieve these types of images is by becoming  sure of what makes the couple, or family laugh. What they love, what they think is absolutely hilarious. One of my ways to get couples going, is putting them in awkward poses first. Like placing them together with their foreheads together with eyes closed. Once I have a few of those, I tell them to open their eyes. This usually does it in for them. Most of the time, they both start laughing hysterically. This is what usually starts to fuel them. After this I will usually give them the gist of the pose, and let them go from there.  

This is where you will generally receive those one of a kind images. There is nothing more that I love than seeing the images edited and done, but so different than anything I have ever seen. I tend to have the same methods of posing these unposed images, but never fails to always be different in every way. You can always try to recreate those images, but its the emotions and uniqueness that the specific couple have. Every session is most definitely going to be different. This is why I love to do what I do. There are so many different scenarios to capture these. 

Another one of my favorite methods is the walking or running pose. Action shots are where you will also get those timeless images that everyone wants. These are super self explanatory. You line them up at a starting point and ask them to run or walk to your stop point. Usually I will go to the point and give them a quick rundown on what I want them to do while they are walking. It is much easier to show someone what to do rather than just telling them. I usually will tell my couple to run towards me at a rather slow running speed as to a full force sprint. During the run I ask them to either look at each other or around . Usually I never ask them to look at me. I feel that making solid eye contact with the camera the entire time gives that posed look. It might just be me, but it is exactly how I feel. It is definitely okay to have a few of those, but to capture that intimate moment between the couple, you should have them making eye contact between each other. These should be the goal of your experience with them. Capture the emotion.

If you get a case where the couple is super shy, make sure that there aren't any other people around. This includes parents, bridal party, and so forth. You want your clients to perform to the best of their ability with no distractions. Now, I'm not saying that you should tell the bride or groom that they cant have people around for their bride and groom photos, but make sure that they are comfortable. I personally have never encountered eager to be present members during bride and groom photos, but Im sure that it can be distracting to you and the clients.
I really really love the images that do include the bridal party as well. It just gives your images that look of happiness and excitement. Just like the tunnel image that I have above. The photographer I was second shooting for had that amazing idea. Line the bridal party up on both sides and create a "love tunnel". This was obviously very successful in capturing yet another timeless image that included all of the bride and grooms closest friends and family. This couple in particular was super corporative when it came to photos. I know that she had these images being displayed in her head while they were happening. It is truly amazing to be able to capture these emotions in one stop frame image. 

I hope to have helped a few of you out with maybe some unanswered questions when it comes to posing the unposed poses... wow, that was a mouthful. 

Stay awesome.