A Posing Guide for Couples (40+ Poses)
I recently shot a wedding and it was the first wedding I had done in 2 or 3 years. I remembered the last one as being a big drama and decided I should do some background work to make this one more successful. I dug up a DVD of a workshop by Doug Gordon . He was filmed presenting a workshop to cruiseship photographers on workflow and making the poses efficient in front of studio backdrops. I decided to try to memorise as many poses as I could to assist me in posing my bridal couple. I remembered some of which I will link to and forgot lots of others. So I set about putting all of the information into e-book form as a summary with screen captures from the DVD. It has taken ages but having the visual guide helps me to remember the poses in the video. I thought I would put it up here to help others who may need some ideas for shooting a wedding.
I recently did a course in Portrait photography and was appalled at the lack of information provided on posing models. I have done numerous searches and have rarely found anything useful in the way of learning resources. So I hope that this is seen as educational and useful to many.
One last thing, if anyone wants this in PDF form, it is a 5 Mb file and it is available for download from my website: www.markephotography.com.au (and go to “links”). Cheers!
FIRST OF ALL THE BASIC RULES:
This basic pose was adaptable to include the bouquet and I was able to frame to include the bridal party also.
In my interpretation of this pose, I had the female train her eyes down to the hands also.
This is my interpretation from the dance poses.
A slight variation on the given pose to include the cake.
This is my effort of putting this pose to good use!
Comments
thanks very much for the effort to upload all of this info……….
the Wedding Group appreciates you
xkc
No worries Karen. Hopefully since I have stared at it for a few days now, some of it will sink in for me!!!!
– Mark Elshout
Wonderful notes for anyone wanting to brush up on some skills!
There should be more available text on the matter I think! It is really hard to find stuff like this and the DVD version does provide some good verbal tips too. Doug is a good educator.
– Mark Elshout
Thanks Mark, great reference! I’ve been meaning to get my hands on this for a while, which I suspect will cover very similar ground: Posing Secrets – The Photographer’s Essential Guide Vol.1
No worries. I would assume the book would deal with similar principles. Its all about speed of workflow really. The DVD is good but the presenter got in the way of the video numerous times and I had to split hairs to get screen grabs of the poses. I am probably in total breach of copyright…. but it is all in the name of education!!!
– Mark Elshout
You da man Mark! This is awesome and thanks so much for sharing :)
No worries Shelly. It is a pleasure!
– Mark Elshout
Great work here Mark thank you very much for sharing this with all of us..
Pleasure is all mine!
– Mark Elshout
could i please have a pdf copy please?? thank you so much for this!! Its fantastic and been SUCH a HUGE help! x
No worries. I will get to it ASAP
– Mark Elshout
Would you please bubblemail me your email address. Thanks!
– Mark Elshout
Some excellent advice here Mark, really worth getting all this straight in your mind before the big day, many thanks for sharing this :)
I memorised bits but there is a stack of info to try to remember and recall. I need a couple at my mercy to simply practise the poses over and over till I lock it in!
– Mark Elshout
very handy thanks
No worries Dawn. I photographed my last 2 weddings using these techniques and it made all the difference. If you can, practise posing random friends first and try to get a good speed of flow on from one pose to the next. This helps!
– Mark Elshout
thankyou Mark, a friend has asked me to shoot her wedding at the end of May, im frantically trying to learn as much as possible lol
No pressure but I stuffed a friends wedding shoot once when I was using film. Her dress through my light meter totally out of wack. All the bridesmaid shots were spot on but all the bride ones were dodgey… I mean she said she liked them but I was not happy with the results. If it is a sunny day, try to shoot in the shade with a remote flash if possible. Front on flash will flatten them but offset slightly to the side will light them without messing the natural shadows of the face too much. I have photographed some brides in natural light filtering through a window but this does create a very dark side to the photo. Shoot as much candid as possible because most people prefer the natural happiness to the staged. I think that is about all the advice I could give and I am no expert!!
– Mark Elshout
Oh and if you have never shot a wedding before, it will be the scariest day of your life!!! Back up cards all day long!!
– Mark Elshout
Thank you.
Now worries Joseph. Pleasure is mine!
– Mark Elshout