As a photographer, you should be the expert when it comes to posing. Clients look to you to make them comfortable and to look their best in the images you take of them. Mastering posing should be a high priority in your photography education. Here are three tips to help make your couples more comfortable:

Have everyone take a deep breath to start the session.

• Emotions are high and stress is very real at the beginning of the session. You must give them permission to relax. I walk them out to the first location, and set them up into the first pose. Then I step back and set my light with my camera as they stand there, adjusting their hair and clothes. Then I put my camera down, and I invite them to take a deep breath in and out. You will notice an instant lowering of their shoulders and a more natural sway to their posture. I will do this multiple times through out the session if I notice their shoulders hunching. 

Show them what you want.

• When I lead a couple into a pose, I will mimic what I want them to do first. If I want the boy to lean against a rock I will go do that, THEN I will stand up and mime where I want the girl to stand, including where to put the hands. This helps them to get into the pose without having to ask any questions. 

Open up shoulders to the camera.

• When it comes to couples, often the popular poses have the couples facing each other. For my personal relaxed style, shoulders are very important. If the bride’s shoulders are raised and hunched, she will look cold or nervous. I will often have the couple face each other and pinch together the shoulders that are behind their bodies from me (like his shoulder touching her’s), and open up their shoulders towards me, giving a little more space between them. It makes the posing a lot inviting, especially if they are smiling towards me. 

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