The most important thing you can do as a portrait photographer is to make your clients trust you and feel more comfortable on the set.
It’s the key element in getting great shots of people you haven’t met before. This article over at SLRLounge is presenting 13 professional photographers and their examples of how they’ve made it work.
Posing Cue 1 | Melissa Kilner of Melissa Kilner Photography
“Instead of having clients walk towards you side by side. Have one person walk slightly in front of the other and drag the other along. They can take turns looking at each other and looking at the camera. It’s a small change from a well-used pose, but it keeps it fresh and fun, and a lot of times they naturally laugh in the process. This works great while they are walking toward you, or if you have them walk perpendicular to where you are standing.” – Melissa Kilner
Posing Cue 2 | Kara Miller of Kara Miller Photography
“I tell the guy to nuzzle her cheek… Like a cat. The cat part usually makes them laugh!” – Kara Miller
Posing Cue 3 | Jo and Jason Marino of Imagine Photography
“We really try to shoot in a cinematic way, and since our brains are wired like that we tend to act almost as film directors when we pose clients. We spend a moment or two discussing the scene (shot), the frame of mind they should be in to convey the emotion, the expressions on their face, the way their body should speak to the camera; all of this to really get genuine emotion from them.
Posing Cue 4 | Jerrit Pruyn of Jerrit Pruyn Photography
“I make sure to sound as manly as possible when I say this. ‘Give him a kiss and pop up your heel like a Disney princess.’” – Jerrit Pruyn
Posing Cue 5 | Shannon Cronin of Shannon Cronin Photography
“I ask the couple to dance and usually specifically ask them to practice their first dance. Most couples will do the clutch and sway kind of dance but I’ll photograph it from far away so they can really get into it. It will either produce a really sweet moment or they’ll burst out laughing – either way, it’s a great shot.” – Shannon Cronin
Posing Cue 6 | Jamie Ivins of Jamie Ivins Photography
“In the beginning of the day I like to pull the best man aside and ask him to think of a funny story or two of the groom. I make sure to give him plenty of time to think it over so he doesn’t feel on the spot. Later when I take the groomsmen out for portraits, at some point I will ask the best man to bust out the funny story. Most of the time the groom is caught off guard and I’m able to get real, candid moments of the guys laughing. If the story is really good, sometimes the other groomsmen will start trying to one up the other and more stories come out. Works like a charm every time!” – Jamie Ivins
Posing Cue 7 | Christina Zen of Christina Zen Photography
“I always tell my couples to snuggle up close but give them different instructions in secret. I tell the bride to grab her man and try to make him give her a long, slow kiss. But I tell the groom to kiss her anywhere BUT her lips. To tease her a bit with an “almost kiss”. It can get very romantic, but usually ends in a perfect laughing moment.” – Christina Zen
Read the full article over at SLR Lounge.
Source: SLR Lounge
Good stuff