Couples posing tips 💕

 

I’m not very hands-on with my clients prior to the
session, but I am working on becoming more so. I do
give them some wardrobe tips if they inquire. I try to
tell them to do something casual so that it feels a
little more like themselves and not like they are in a
stranger’s clothes. I also have them bring something
a bit dressier to shake it up a bit.
I tell them to stay clear of crazy patterns and a lot of
logos, if possible. I try not to dictate what they wear
too much, as I want them to preserve their personal
style, as well. Sometimes it’s better when they are
perfectly coordinated, but that’s not how they would
normally be dressed. I go for personality over perfect fashion coordination.
Unlike some photographers, I don't have them send
me photos of their outfits prior to the session! it’s
usually a surprise. I have noticed that- "pre session"
outfit sharing is becoming more common, and I do
think it's a great- idea. I may start implementing it
more with my couples.

As far as other pre-planning goes, I don’t bring much
with me personally. I pack candy and things to help
keep the couple going during the session. I’ll use
gummy bears to get cooperation out of them- just like I would with a kid session. This is a great tip for
the groom-to-be. Bribing them with candy works like
a charm. Tell them if they cooperate then they can
have the candy.
I don’t tell them to bring a lot with them. If they want props, they’ll usually ask about- them. I don’t- do a lot
of proppy stuff. There’s nothing wrong with it, but- it's
just not- my personal style.
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HAIR & MAKEUP
I usually work with a hair and makeup artist for
boudoir and beauty sessions, but not typically for
couples’ sessions. I will recommend my favorite stylists
and artists if my clients ask. I suggest that they get at
least their makeup done prior to the session, but I
personally don't think hair is as important to get done
professionally during a session like this.
I like it better when they have their makeup
professionally done because it makes skin look better
and polished. And who doesn’t feel more confident when
they’re all done up? It also helps them get used to
wearing more makeup than normal to help prepare
them for their wedding day. Because nobody wears that
much eye makeup out during the daytime, like ever.
Makeup that's done well not only makes skin look more
refined, but can also accentuate features like your eyes,
lips or brows.

I personally think that it’s just prettier when done by a
professional. I know that when I put my own
eyeshadow and mascara on that it won’t look as good as
someone who does hundreds and hundreds of people’s
makeup for a living.
PROPS
Like I said earlier, I don’t use a lot of props. I generally
have blankets with me, though, because I like to have
the couple sit down for much of my posing. I don’t have
a lot of other stuff. I usually just try to go for what’s in
the area that we’re in. I like to use the environment
-
over props. I’m not terribly proppy.
I’m not opposed to using props though. If a client wants
to use something that- has sentimental value to them, I
try to find creative ways to bring that- prop into the
session. I’ll ask what
- they have in mind for it- so we can
get- the shot- they were thinking of in their head. I’ll look
at
- it- and think of what- else I can do with it- to make it
more original.
For engagements, if I can work it- into a ring shot-, I’ll do
that
- for sure. I won’t- necessarily put it- in the forefront,
but
- keep it- in the frame somehow. More than anything,
I believe couple sessions should be about- them and their
love, not- about- other stuff, so I try to limit- my prop
usage.

Sometimes couples want to bring their pets and I’m
totally OK with that. I’m a cat person, but I can’t get
too many people to bring their cats. A lot of people do
bring their dogs, and I'm good with that. They drool
more than cats, of course, but I'm all about the "fur
family" They even behave better than children

WORKING WITH  COUPLES
I like working with couples because I can do a lot of
candid shots. They’re generally into each other, so
they’re listening and not complaining about the fact
that they have to do photos. You get to know them
and their personalities. It’s just sweet to get to see
people who like each other together and in love. It’s
so happy and fun.
It’s the people more than anything that I find
inspiring. I just really love their interactions, seeing
how they treat each other and how they look at each
other. They’re silly and lovestruck and I love getting
to know them.

Because I don’t use a lot of props, I have to find other
ways to make each of my sessions personal. Most of
my sessions start out pretty similar. I start out with
standard poses, but once we get interacting together,
that’s when I can change it up. I see how they are
together and I can then tailor things to make the
session more unique to each couple.
Some people are really, really snuggly and are willing
to show affection. Others aren’t so comfortable with
PDA, so you tweak the poses based off of their
personalities. For some couples, I can get really close
in to give it a romantic feel. With others, I will zoom
out and show off more of the location and them
interacting without being too intimate. I just try to
pull out their personality and go from there.

MAKING THEM FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH PDA
I’m pretty upfront prior to the session to let them know
how it will go as far as PDA is concerned. When I meet
with them, I talk about how I pose. I let them know
that there’s always touching to connect them in one
form or another. Whether it be holding hands or having
his hand on her hip, etc. I won’t have them stand 20
feet apart not looking at each other in every shot. I tell
them that they have to be OK with being snuggly, or I
won't know what to do with them.
They know there will be some kissing and snuggling,
but that I won't make them kiss the whole time. I often
have them do some kissing and touching of noses and
foreheads in order to keep them close without initiating
a full blown makeout session. I just let them know that
whatever they do, they will do it with closeness.

If they seem uncomfortable with being snuggly during
the session and I can tell they just aren’t digging it, I
try to go for instant laughter. It’s a one-person comedy
show with me. I’ll have one of them blow in the other’s
ear really fast. This always tends to get them cracking
up with a real, genuine smile. A lot of times, they’ll
throw their head back in laughter. Sometimes they’ll
tell me...we’d never do this, this is weird. But then I tell
them that it’s because it’s weird that they can laugh
about it for real and get good smiles.
If they’re uncomfortable with kissing, I won’t have them
do a lot of kissy faces, but instead do bear hugs and a lot
of leaning into each other. I’ll make jokes about turning
each other into furniture, so they lean in really close.
This way, their bodies are close without their faces
having to touch each other.
I do a variety of camera-aware shots with them looking
straight at me, and then others with them into each
other- touching temples to get them close without all
the lip-loving going on.

WARMING UP
Usually, I can get my clients to warm up pretty quickly.
If I’ve never met them before and we’re meeting on the
day of the shoot, I’ll usually talk to them for a few
minutes before we get started. For the first five to ten
minutes after that, the photos are OK, but after that is
when it gets really good. They are relaxed enough by
then to really start feeling the session.
If I’ve met them before at a consult (as I do with most of
my couples), then I pretty much jump right in, but it’s
still probably about five minutes before they get warmed
up because it’s awkward to have someone follow you that
closely with that much camera until you get used to it.
There are some people who have a difficult time
warming up, and as a result feel awkward. For those
clients, I have some prepared ice breakers that work
about 95% of the time. Some people just don’t want to do
it usually the guys. Most of the guys struggle a little bit in front of the camera, actually. I often hear, "I don't want to be here. She's making me doing it."

For those cases, you just have to keep needling at them
and break them down until they somewhat cooperate.
Find something that interests them and makes them
excited and build from there.
I think most of the time, the guy is dreading the
session. They only do it because they know they have to,
and they're not terribly excited about it. I think once he
gets there and realizes it will be more fun than he
imagined, he will relax more. I’ll let them tell
inappropriate jokes. Every once in a while, a boob grab
accidentally happens and I joke about it. Then they feel
good and they behave for the rest of the session.
I shoot fast. I don’t make them stand around while I
poke around and think about things like what I’m going
to do next. If you don’t have a lot of breaks in your
session, then they don’t have time to think about what
they could be doing if they weren’t at the session. Get in
there and shoot like crazy and let them get on with
their lives. I make sure I let the guys know that the
suffering will end fast. They get a kick out of this
because I empathize with them and let them know I
know how they’re feeling and I joke about it.

There have been a couple that I haven’t been able to
crack, but I just try to make them look the best as
possible so it doesn’t look like they’re pained to be there.
You only have so much to work with when they won’t
cooperate, so just try your best to loosen them as much
as you can and make it work for you.

ICE BREAKERS
I tell a lot of bad jokes. Absolutely inappropriate,
slapstick comedy. I do whatever it takes to make them
smile. If that means me tripping over things, then so be
it. I normally do that anyway from not paying attention,
but I make it into a joke. I welcome them to joke back
and forth. We do a lot of wordplay. This helps them
forget what they’re doing.
I also make them nose-wrestle. Most of them don’t
know what that means and I have to explain it to them:
it’s like thumb wrestling with your noses. It’s just a lot
of silly. I use the same tactics with them as I would with
kids. I make them blow raspberries on each other. It’s
really hard to keep a straight, serious face if someone is
doing that in your ear. Regress to childhood and
someone blows on your tummy...what happens? You get crazy giggles and there’s a lot of laughing and
happiness. You just can’t feel awkward anymore.

I also tell them at the consult that I’ll bring candy and
find out what their favorite candy is and bring it so
they’ll love me. I’m not above bribery. Anything to get
the shot.

AWKWARD POSING FIXES
If a pose just isn’t working and it’s looking awkward,
I try to move it a little bit. If it truly won’t work, I’m
OK with giving up and doing something else. I’ll set
them up and try to get them to fall into place. If they
truly just aren’t feeling it though, I don’t want them
to feel discouraged at all. I’ll snap a couple of shots
even if I know I won’t use them. I pretend like I’m
getting some good shots and it worked and move on.
I don’t let them know that’s its not working or that
I’m frustrated. Then they will feel uncomfortable for
the rest of the shoot.

Be confident. Even if you feel no confidence in
yourself whatsoever, just act like you do. Fake it ‘til
you make it. I know, especially at first, it can feel
awkward telling complete or semi-complete strangers
what to do. You don’t want to feel like you’re ordering
them around, but in order to make the images look
the way you want them, you have to tell them what
to do. If you have an idea, go in and be confident in
telling them what you need from them to do.


If they have skepticism, tell them, “I know you don’t
want to do this, but it looks good from where I’m
standing. Let’s try a couple and I’ll show you a few
previews.” Then I like to show them a couple of back
of camera shots so they’ll be comfortable. If you show
them what it looks like, they can relax more because
they’ll think, “Oh hey, I don’t look stupid. Alright, you
can keep telling me what to do. You clearly know
what you’re doing.” Posing isn’t a natural thing.
When you’re completely comfortable, your arms are
usually at your side. Posing feels weird, but if you
show them that it’s okay then they can think, “OK, so
I feel stupid, but it looks good. It’s OK”
Just remember to be confident in how you do it and
do it nicely. Don’t talk like “Well maybe if you do
this...” You just need to tell them exactly what to do
with confidence. Tell them, ‘You need to put your
hand here and your face like this.” Make it sound like
you know what you’re doing (even if you don’t yet)
and they will follow along.

I always get nervous before sessions and weddings. The
nervousness usually fades once I’m there, though. We
talk a little bit at first and it helps. The night before a
session though is another story. I have nightmares of
screwing something up or losing a memory card. You
know -- the usual photog horror stories that all run
through your head. Once I’m there, I’m suddenly fine. I
don’t know if I overthink it going into it. I must think
I'm going to all of a sudden forget how to use my camera
or something, but once I get going, I remember, " I can do
this. It’ll be fine.“ And it is fine.
If I have a couple in a really cute pose, but they look
awkward in their facial expressions, I default to bad
jokes. That’s my go-to. Depending on the pose, I’ll
also try having them touch noses or temples and blow
on each others’ cheeks. Just something to break the
tension a bit. If I have to trip over something and
make a joke about being clumsy to get them to relax,
then that’s what I have to do. If it’s just not working,
I take them out of that pose. But I always try to
default to laughter first and shoot like crazy. Even if I
only get two shots, it’s worth it.

THINGS TO STAY AWAY FROM
There are a few things that I try to stay clear of during
sessions. For posing, I never like having hands near the
middle of the girl’s body I keep away from this with
couples because I don’t ever want it to look like a
maternity session, unless of course it is a maternity
session. I keep hands low on the hips or higher up
around her ribs, but never in the middle. Otherwise,
you could be telling a whole other story that you weren’t
trying to tell. I never have the guy stand behind the girl
hugging her with his hands on her midsection unless it
is a maternity session.
When talking to the couple, I don’t even touch the topic
of religion because people are all over the place on that.
Pop culture is generally fair game. Sometimes politics
will sneak in, but not too much. I don’t pay attention
enough to make jokes about it and sometimes people
get heated about politics, so I try to just lay low on that.


I
POSING Tips
I have a few go to poses. These are a few things I like
to do with everyone. I like to make sure that I mix
the non-camera aware with the camera aware shots.
I think you need to do both. Parents generally want
to see their faces at some point. So I always make
sure to show some of them and then the snuggliness
and romantic shots.
I pay attention to hands, specifically hand placement,
so they are always touching and connected. I like to
start with a pose and change it a little bit then move
positions and just flow into the other poses naturally
so you can get the most out of one area.
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FINDING POSES/COMING UP WITH NEW IDEAS
In the beginning, when it came to posing, like anything
else, there was a lot of trial and error. Lots of error more
than anything. I did a lot of looking at Google images and
other photographers’ Facebook pages, I bought a lot of
books. I remember buying a wedding posing guide a long
time ago and look at it now and think that a lot of the
poses are terrible now. But even if they are, they started
getting me to look at different options, and my ideas
spread from there. I watched Creative Live videos. I
looked at so many magazines. I thought, "Hmm. These
perfume ad couples’ pose could work for an engagement
photo.” I did some online workshops, stuff like that. To
this day, I just look at as much as I can.
Look everywhere and try the poses that inspire you to see
if they work. Now that I’ve been doing this for a while, I’m
pretty sure that if I try something, it will work the way
that I want it to. I get a lot of new ideas from mostly
Pinterest now. It is far more helpful than I ever should
admit it is. When I go to get my hair done, I’ll still look at
fashion magazines for inspiration.

I try not to look at other
photographers in my area at all, though I do look at
photographers who live further away I still do look
at what others are doing in my area occasionally just
to see what is going on in my local industry.

TIPS FOR POSING COUPLES OF VARYING
HEIGHTS
If your couple has a wide height range between
them, there are lots of different things you can do. If
they have an issue with the height difference, they’ll
usually tell me. If not, I still do some things to bridge
the gap.

If there is a really great height difference, sitting
poses are really handy It gets them closer together
and cuts the height difference in at least half.
Posing with steps are also great. You can put the
shorter person on a higher step and the taller person
below to help bring them together. Another great
place to pose is on hills. Again, put the taller person
further down the hill and the shorter person behind
to equalize the heights.


Having the guy spread his feet further apart will bring
him down to a lower level without it being terribly
obvious, especially for close-ups where the legs are
cropped out. You can’t even tell at all. Also for those
close-up shots, you can have the shorter one stand on
something much higher to get their faces closer together.
Having him carrying her is also a great option. Like
piggy back rides or the fireman carry. I know it’s a little
cliche, but it’s still cute and brings them closer together
so the height isn’t an issue. Have him pick her up and
twirl her. This will keep their faces closer together, as
well.

I know that sometimes asking a couple about carrying shots
can be kind of awkward. You don’t want to say something like,
"Can you pick her up?" Even if you don't mean it, that could
be misconstrued as her being heavy or him not being strong.
Sometimes I think I might be putting my foot in my mouth by
asking, "Can you do this?" I try to ask in other ways to get the
pose. Have her pick him up first (or try to) and then say, "OK,
now it's your turn." I try to do it in a nice way. I like to joke
and laugh and just make it not so serious. I’ll say things like,
"Do you trust him enough not to drop you?” You can
sometimes tell and just read them enough to know how they
are together and if they might be willing to do it or not before
you even ask. I’ve found that straight up asking is the best way to deal with this. Just phrase it nicely.

WALKING


WALKING AWAY
This is a really basic pose, but helps to get the
couple warmed up. Simply ask the couple to hold
hands and walk away from you. Tell them to
relax, and that they can make silly faces,
because the camera is only seeing their back
sides.
STOP FOR PDA
When you have enough photos of them walking
away, ask them to stop for a moment. Have them
cuddle in close for a hug, and then tell them to
kiss and hold for five seconds to ensure you have
time to get the shot.
WALKING
Now have your couple turn around and walk
back toward you. Tell them to pretend like you’re
not there and to not look at the camera. Have
them just look at each other and talk. Walk
further apart and then closer to cuddle and walk
to switch it up.
WALKING VARIATION 1
A great variation on the walking pose is to have
one of your clients lead the other one while
walking. It is cute no matter who is the leader. I
like to take close ups as well as photos further
away to get the whole scene.
WALKING VARIATION 2
While your couple is walking away, shout out to
one of them to get them to look back at you. You
could also have them pause and tell them to
both look back at you over their inside shoulders
(in the middle).

STANDING
POSES
; :
BACK-TO-BACK
Walking can transition into many great standing
poses. I love to do a simple back-to-back shot. I
ask my couples to stand back-to-back while
holding hands. I tell the guy to put his free hand
in his pocket (thumb out) and the girl to pop her
knee. Try doing a camera-aware shot, and one
with them looking at one another.

THE “PARENT PLEASER”
“Parent Pleasers” are must-have shots during a
couple’s session. There are many different ways
to do this. Basically it is an image where the
couple are close and you get great camera-aware
smiles. Be sure to not get so caught up in the
creative poses that you forget these. These are
the most important shots you will get. There are
many variations on how you can accomplish this
pose.
For this first variation, have your couple hug
(not too tight) and look at the camera and smile.
If engaged, be sure to get that ring in the shot,
as shown here. This is a great closeup pose.

PARENT PLEASER 2
Have your couple stand side-by-side and look at
you. Tell the girl to hug his arm and rest her
head on his shoulder gently Then have him
softly rest his face against her head. This is
great with a height difference. If they are closer
to the same height, just have them touch
temples lightly.


PARENT PLEASER 3
This is a really great parent pleaser pose. Have
your couple stand stomach-to-stomach and get in
really close without smooshing faces. Have them
do a “half hug” with their back arms. Tell them
to look at the camera and smile. *Make sure
their faces are on the same plane so that
everyone is equally in focus.
PARENT PLEASER 4
Have the girl stand facing the camera. Then tell
the guy to go in from the side and hug her
around the shoulders while latching his hands
with linked fingers. Then tell her to lean into
him and to grab his arm with her hands. Tell
them to look at you and smile.

PARENT PLEASER 5
Have your couple stand side-by-side holding
hands, with some space between them. Tell the
guy to put his free hand in his pocket with his
thumb out and the girl’s hand down at her side.
Have them both look at the camera and smile.

GUY FACING AWAY
I love these poses, but tend to limit the amount
that I do in each session because some people
are more traditional and don’t like this pose
because they want to see both faces. Have the
guy stand facing away from the camera with
hands in pockets. Then have the girl come in
and hug him around the waist with her one arm
and the other rests on his arm near her face.
GIRL FACING AWAY
Now have them reverse (or you can walk around
them if the scenery is good from that angle, as
well) to get a photo of the guy’s face while the
girl is facing away. You can keep her hand on his
waist, or have them hold hands as shown here.
Tell him to look at the camera and you can
either have him smile or be serious for this shot.
DANCING
Dancing shots are cute and playful and a fun
way to get your couple to loosen up. Ask him to
twirl her around a few times under his arm and
take pictures throughout the whole process.
These shots are not camera-aware.


NOSE WRESTLING
Have your couple stand stomach-to-stomach and
hug. Next, you’re going to have them
nose-wrestle. If they haven’t heard of this before,
you’ll have to explain that it is like thumb
wrestling, but with their noses. This helps get
them close and laughing at the same time.
GETTING CLOSE
You can also get a close up of the nose wrestling
and walk around to change up your angle. I’ve
also positioned this couple a little differently.
Have them hug around the neck and shoulders
instead of the waist for variety. And this is a
great way to incorporate her ring.
THE STARE
Another great closeup shot is to have your
couple be stomach-to-stomach and to hug with
the girl’s hands on the guy’s chest showing off
her ring. Then tell them to gently get really close
with their foreheads and noses barely touching
and then to stare into each other’s eyes.
EYES CLOSED
Move in even closer and have your couple close
their eyes with a soft smile. Tell them to imagine
their future together or some of their favorite
memories. No peeking!

1/2 CAMERA AWARE
While still in this position, have the girl look
over at you and tell him to stay as he was. This
is good smiling or serious. If you’re looking for a
really good smile, tell him to whisper something
into her ear to make her laugh. He’ll know
exactly what to say.
1/2 CAMERA AWARE VARIATION
Now have him look at the camera and tell her to
whisper back at him and to kiss him on the
cheek. Teasing always brings out genuine smiles.

FOREHEAD KISS
This is a cute, intimate pose. Have your couple
hug stomach-to-stomach with the girl’s arms
around the guy’s neck. Then tell her to close her
eyes and have him kiss her softly on the forehead
and hold the pose. He should close his eyes, as
well.

KISSING
One tip for great kissing shots is to have the guy
grab the girl’s face. There’s a reason all the
romantic movie posters use this pose: it’s hot! It
evokes passion and is a must-have kissing shot
that your couples will want.
KISSING 2
You can also do the reverse. Have the girl grab
the guy’s neck and pull him in close for a more
intimate kiss. I suggest kissing poses throughout
the session, but to hold off on these ones until the
couple has warmed up a little bit and are more
comfortable with PDA in front of the camera.
SILHOUETTE
If we’re shooting around sunset, I like to try to
get some silhouettes. For this, you will need to
get the light source behind you and lower your
ISO. Then I like to bump up my aperture and
shutter speed. You’ll have to play around with
this based off of the lighting conditions you’re in.
(Camera info for shot below'- 85mm, ISO 160, f/3.2, l /8000sec.)
(Camera info for right shot.: 70mm, ISO 250. f/9.0, l /2000sec.)

(Camera info for this shot 135mm, ISO 400, f/2.2, l/8000sec.
(Camera info for this shot: 70mm, ISO 250, 175.0, l/8000sec.)
(Camera info for this shot - 70mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, l /250sec.)
(Camera info for this shot '- 85mm
, ISO 250, f/3.2, l /8000sec.)
INCORPORATE HOBBIES
Prior to the session, try to find out what your
couple likes to do together. See if there is a way
you can bring that into the session. This couple,
for example, plays hockey. So I had them bring
along some of their equipment and we played
around with it for some cute shots.
THE PICK UP
As mentioned earlier, whenever I’m feeling out a
couple to see if they’d be okay with this pose, I
like to have her pick him up first (or try to) and
then say, "OK, now your turn." I like to joke and
laugh and just make it not so serious. I’ll say
things like, "Do you trust him enough not to
drop you?” These make for some really fun shots.

CARRYING VARIATION
Having him carry her is also a great option.
There are many different carrying variations,
but I like piggy back rides or the fireman carry.
They’re cute and easy and help get the couples’
faces together.


HUGGING
If your couple isn’t into a lot of PDA, try to get some
hugging shots in more

so than the kisses. These are
still intimate photos and will show their love
without making them feel super uncomfortable.
Every now and then, have them stop for a hug.
Walk around and get different angles for more
variety. Have them close their eyes.

SITTING
POSES

SIMPLE SITS
Now let’s move into some simple sitting poses. If there
is a ledge, bench, log or fence somewhere in the area,
this is a great location for a sitting pose. Have your
couple sit down on it side-by-side, hugging with their
inside arms. Then have them cross their ankles. Their
outer arms should be placed stacked on a knee. Try
some camera-aware shots and some interaction shots.

SIMPLE SITS 2
Another variation is to have the girl swing her legs
up beside her (outward away from him) and bring
one leg up. You will have her lean back into him so
that his neck is in the space above her shoulder so
their faces can be close. Have her rest her hand on
his knee. From here, they can look at you and
smile, look at each other, or kiss.
SIMPLE SITS 3
You could also have her swing her legs around
toward him and place them on top of his legs.
Tell her to scoot in really close and grab him
around the neck or on his shoulders and lean in
close for a more intimate shot. This is a great
nose-wrestling opportunity.
'

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SIMPLE SITS 4
If they are on a bench, you can also walk around
to the other side and take a shot of them facing
away from you. Have him place his arms
stretched on the back of the bench and tell her to
cuddle in close to him, resting her head up
against his.

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SIMPLE SITS 5
Have her sit on the back of the bench (or up on
the ledge, etc.) and have him stand up against her
so that she’s kind of in a straddle position around
him. Then have them get in close for a kiss.
SITTING ON THE GROUND 2
Then have them turn and face each other. Tell
them to sit cross-legged while holding hands.
This is a great time to hold a staring contest. It
will help them to focus on each other, and it will
also get some good smiles once someone finally
blinks and is declared the winner.
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SITTING ON THE GROUND 3
From here, you can have him grab her hand and
gently kiss it for a sweet pose. Or you could tell
them to lean in for a kiss. I like to take these
shots at ground level, so I sit or kneel to get the
right angle.
SITTING ON THE GROUND
You can also have your couple sit straight on the
ground. I always bring blankets with me just in
case because I’m not sure where I’m going to have
them sit. For this pose, I just have them sit closely
side-byside with their feet crossed out in front of
them. Their shoulders should be overlapping
slightly, their heads close and camera-aware smiles.
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SITTING ON THE GROUND 4
For this pose, have the guy sit first with his
knees up and have him gently hug his knees and
lock his hands together. Then have the girl sit
beside him with her legs to the side, and snuggle
in close by grabbing his upper arm and gently
resting her chin on his shoulder. Have them look
at each other.

123
SITTING ON THE GROUND 5
You can also get up and take this shot from
above to get a nice closeup from a different
perspective. Try to clear any distractions from
the background so that the focus is just on the
couple. You can also have them close their eyes
or kiss at this time.
SITTING ON THE GROUND 6
You can change up this position by having her turn and
lean her back up against his shoulder and extend her
legs outward, crossed. This is a great way to make the
girl's legs look awesome! The look changes from the
photo being forward facing and camera aware, then I
like to have them look back over at each other.
SITTING ON THE GROUND 7
You can keep the girl in this position and move the
guy so that he’s facing toward her, with his legs
straddling her. Have him wrap his front arm
around her shoulders while his back arm is resting
on his knee. Then have him kiss her temple. Tell
her to close her eyes and grab his arm as shown.
SITTING ON THE GROUND 8
With the couple seated, it's great to be able to get
in close and shoot down for flattering close-ups.
This is a great parent pleaser pose.
127

I love to do poses where the couple are seated. I usually
keep a few blankets in my car, as well, to make sure we
don't get too dirty
Seated poses are great when there's a big height difference and you want to get their faces on a more
even level. These start out as a pretty posed photos,
then we just get a little silly with joking to loosen it up
and make it look more natural.
It's really easy to get a lot of different shots from this
basic seated position with moving legs, pivoting the
body, moving arms, etc. With just a few shifts in the
body, we can turn the guy in toward the girl to hug or
give forehead kisses for a totally different look!
And these last few poses where the couple is sitting on
the ground transition well in lay down poses, as well!
128
LYING
DOWN
POSES


LYING ON BACK
From the sitting pose, have them fall back onto
the ground so they are lying on their backs. Tell
them to hold hands in the middle and to let their
other arms down by their sides. Have them look at
each other, look up at the sky or close their eyes.
LYING ON BACK 2
Now, switch angle to a side view and have him
lie on his hip, give her a hug and lean in for a
kiss. Tell them to hold it for five seconds so you
have time to get the shots you need.


LYING ON STOMACH
That last pose transitions well into this one.
Have your couple flip over and lie on their
stomachs. This is a simple pose. They are just
side-byside resting on their forearms. Have
them lean their heads in close and be front
facing and camera-aware while smiling.
*
%
#
vs w /
LYING ON STOMACH 2
Take some full body shots here, as well. Have
her put her feet up and cross them. Tell them to
look at each other. Have them talk to each other
to get more relaxed and less posed.
LYING ON STOMACH 3
Another variation to the lying on stomach pose
is to have them get even closer by telling him to
take his arm and put it around her, bringing her
in really close and holding her hand with his
other arm. Get their faces really close, without
smooshing them together.


POSING
WITH PETS


POSING WITH PETS
A lot of my couples like to bring their pets
(mostly dogs) along with them to the session and
this is something I welcome. For a simple pet
pose, I like to place one person on either side of
the dog and have them squat down and face
forward, being camera-aware and smiling.
POSING WITH PETS 2
A good tip for getting everyone looking at the
camera at the same time is to tell the couple to
look at you and smile no matter what and you’ll
take care of getting the dog to look at you. Ask
them if there are any tips they suggest for
getting the dog’s attention if what you’re trying
is not working.
POSING WITH PETS 3
This is an easy, natural pose. Simply ask your
couple to walk their dog back and forth a few
times and to talk and laugh and interact with
each other while doing so.
This is also a great time to grab some solo shots
of the little cutie.

DON’T
FORCETI

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THE RING
Remember to get some close up/macro shots of
the ring if it is an engagement session. I like to
find natural objects during the session that I can
incorporate into these shots. You don’t need a
ton of photos.