Posing People

Since the last blog post I've been rushing around all over the place with attending a workshop up in Cumbria, shooting at a wedding near Melton Mowbray last Saturday, then displaying at a Fayre the following day, and diving head first into a full wedding edit. This may sound like quite an eclectic mix of tasks, but I realised that they are in fact all related in a some way. Let me explain, last Sunday I displayed at the Ansty Hall Hotel Wedding Fayre near Coventry and met loads of people, including other Warwickshire Wedding Photographers.

It was great to see and speak to so many couples who were planning for their wedding day. Some of them made enquiries for 2015, with quite a few way far in advance into 2016. People flicked through some albums and conversation flowed. One subject often came up however, posing. Many couples mentioned they weren't so keen on rigid set poses. You know the ones, just picture Victoria Beckham on the red carpet with both of her hands on her hips, one knee bent in front of the other, looking over her shoulder towards the paps. Now don't get me wrong, I guess you could say this look/pose is appropriate on the red carpet, but not especially at a wedding or a 'Get to know you shoot'!

Quite a few couples said they preferred the more natural style of photography. And this got me thinking. A few days before the fayre I attended an amazing workshop lead by industry leading photographer, Kate Hopewell-Smith. I've been a huge fan of her work for years, and was lucky enough to meet her in person last year at a Wedding Album trade show. So to be with Kate, as well as with other fellow pro photographers, was fab. Without rambling on too long about the day, let me quickly explain the gist of the day.

It was agreed that a routine of finding the best light, thinking of a concept, placing the couple, and exposing correctly (ie technical in-camera stuff) was only a part of capturing an image. What makes a fab image are expressions.....natural expressions. This will be a massive relief to the couples that I shoot, because putting on a 'face' for the camera doesn't come easy. How often have you been asked to smile in front of a camera, and you smile but somehow the end result isn't what you are after, unless you like what I call the Wallace and Gromit smile. And let's face it, if something doesn't feel natural, it certainly won't look natural in the photos.

"But hang on a minute Martin, some of these images look posed." I hear you cry. And I'd be the first to agree, they are, but subtly - and that's the key. Again this is part of the job of the photographer, to help make you feel relaxed, and to place your feet in a good location and let the magic happen.

The couple featured in these images were Kate (another Kate), who is a photographer herself, her husband David and in a moment you will meet Chester their dog. By the way, Kate and David have been married for 31 years, how cool is that? With the above four images, you will notice three slightly different placements, but one common theme, a relaxed couple showing lovely expressions.

Whilst I continue showing you more images from the day, let me explain why I think expressions have been part of my week. When shooting at the wedding last weekend the process was the same, ie looking for the best light, twiddling with various knobs and wheels on the camera, and waiting for the expressions to appear. Because after all, there are plenty of emotions and expressions on display at weddings.

It was great shooting at another wedding last weekend, and one that I'll blog about in the future. Remember I mentioned earlier about editing another wedding, and bodly stated there was a link with all of these events. Some of my most favourite images from the day that I'm editing include, yep you've guessed it, fabulous facial expressions. So when can you capture such expressions during a wedding day?

In fact the list can be quite long, here are just a few; bridal preparations, the bride walking down the aisle, during the wedding service itself, the couple meeting their guests immediately after the service, wedding speeches, first dance..... the list goes on. Oh, and why not during the Bride and Groom 'formal' session as well?

I realise I'm talking a fair bit about the wedding day here, when the images on this blog post are more of a lifestyle theme. So how about replacing the casual clothing with the formal wedding attire. Imagine how that would look?

One item on my packages is the 'Get to know you shoot'. I have written about these in the past, but in summary they are a great opportunity for a couple to run through a shoot like the one above, get used to being in front of a camera - and their photographer - and receive some images in advance of the wedding day. This is all good practice before the main event.Here is an idea, the next time you have a good old 'people-watching session' somewhere, make a mental note of how many times you see interesting expressions. Freeze any of these moments, and imagine a photograph being taken to record it. If you enjoyed this article, you might like another from a few weeks ago also about expressions and emotions from a Groom, click here for the link. Feel free to share away on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Goggle+ by using the social media buttons below. Or even leave a comment. Have a great week everybody.