The Foundations of Posing For Your Wedding Day

Posing is an ART. But understandably it’s an art that a lot of couples are nervous about, and SADLY that a lot of so-called “professional” photographers actually don’t know how to direct correctly.

So if you happen to have a photographer who doesn’t know how to pose you with expertise and intention, what are a few things you should remember?

Here are a few pointers. I call these THE FOUNDATION of posing:

1. Imaginary String: 

First off you want to ensure that your spine is straight, but NOT stiff and unnatural. We often ask our couples to act as if there is a string on the back/top of their head pull up. Have a straight spine and natural curve in your lumbar (lower back).

2. Shoulders:

Push your shoulders 1 inch back. This will further bring confidence and beauty in your pose.

3. Weight Distribution:

You want your weight distribution to be uneven or else your pose will look unnatural. There are two ways to do this. Either cross one leg over the other or put more weight on your back leg. Look at the photo below

But What About Posing Your Arms and Hands?

It’s my job to not just “memorize” poses, but to learn how to “build” a pose for you, I will gently direct the placements of your hands and when to be “camera aware” with your eyes, or to look at your partner deep in her/his eyes.

But here a few pointers so you’ll know what to do on your wedding day.

Holding Something

When you hold something it naturally gives your hands something to do, but also brings attention to that object. Here we have my beautiful bride holding her bouquet which also is a beautiful way to lead attention and show it off. If there is nothing to hold and we see a pose may look better with hands and arms NOT straight down, you can place one or two hands at the waist.

Having your elbow at more than a 90-degree angle gives a more elegant pose than having it at 90 degrees

Avoiding the “Floating Head”

Photographers who don’t know how to pose the hands and arms often give brides and grooms what is called the floating head (what you don’t want). It’s when you have a close-up shot of the face, but no hands and arms in the photo.

You can use hands and fingers to lead attention to where you want with a close-up. As you can see, this portrait does not look forced or rigid even though the hands are in a place that you would not expect. This can enhance a close up portrait in a really beautiful way

Posing The Eyes

So where should you look?

Where you look can dramatically change the feel of the portrait. When I direct for a look down, I’m trying to give an almost candid feel of the portrait. But no matter where you look, you want to avoid only seeing the “white” part of your eye.

I pay very close attention to the eye movement in my camera…