Wedding photography telling the story with moments between posing

Posing in wedding photography can help tell the story, but it is between the poses where the most powerful images often are.

How many times have you as a wedding photographer been shooting a wedding and when it comes time to work with the bride and groom you suddenly are out of ideas on how to pose them? This can be overcome by having a sound relationship with your couple and by learning to look for special expressions and reactions between the couple during the posing. This requires having excellent timing, a strong connection and a willingness to “pull back” a bit. When that happens you can have wedding photography that tells the story in posing.

In the images above from a beautiful wedding in Savannah, Georgia,we had just returned from the ceremony and these images were made outside overlooking the river. The couple just wanted to “escape” a bit after all the rush and high emotions of getting ready and the ceremony. While I am sure they were aware of our presence as we followed them outside, we were not their main focus. That was on each other and in our opinion that shows wonderfully here and that is what makes these images.

For the above images, we had positioned the bride near the window for a few images. Once we told her we were done she was genuinely looking out the window when a burst of sunlight came through. With her head tilting just so this became a beautiful mostly silhouette image. For the image in the church we had been shooting a few formals when the brides little sister just happened to lean into the pew. With the bride facing away and the angled lines of the pew the image was made. For the last image during the getting ready portion and bridesmaid formals everyone was crowding around trying to assist in earrings etc. . A quick shift of position and the image was made with that beautiful expression on her face.

The above image is an all time favorite of mine. Immediately following the ceremony the couple had been put into an area while people were filtered out of the church and were getting ready for the formals and reception. During that time with a dear friend looking on the couple leaned in, touched noses and smiled at each other with a joy that is there for all to see.

For the above images the couple was having such a great time with each other as we moved from one area to another for images that this playful image was created. For the other image we were intentionally working close, waiting for a reaction and we sure got it!

In the images above while we were posing the couple behind the veil we had backed off as if to change a lens. That was our ploy and their queue and you can see the results here. For the next image while we are not posing you do want to be aware for special moments in between even in the ceremony.  For the hands image watch for repeated gestures between your couple. Images such as this are unique for the coupe and can be very special to them.

For this Image we were working in North Georgia for this wedding. During the posing session I had told the groom that if he had anything funny or sexy to say, whisper it to his bride. On a pre-arranged signal he did and the results were gorgeous.

In closing, posing in wedding photography is a wonderful tool to tell the story of the day. Keep in mind it is often the moments BETWEEN the poses when perfect moments can happen. Capturing those is what our job is all about.

We shoot with our hearts on the shutter, and it looks like this.