Julia + Bruno – Feb 1, 2014
December 8, 2014The Top 10 Wedding Locations in Ottawa
December 8, 2016Natural Photos For Your Wedding
Often when I meet with couples the bride to be tells me, “I really want to get natural photos for our wedding. I don’t want them to look all posed.”
Well, we also want to get you natural, energetic and fun photos. I recently made a video called the ‘Top 10 Wedding Photography & Film Location in Ottawa.’ If you havn’t seen it you can watch it here.
Couples ask me if locations have anything to do with getting these natural photos and the answer is ‘Yes, but only a little bit.’ The location is only in 3rd place in capturing great photos and not nearly as important as these next two factors.
The 2nd most important factor is the lighting. This means shooting at certain times in the day and into the light. The light can get a photo looking ‘natural’ with a certain degree of light hitting it.
But the most important factor to get natural photos is the chemistry of the couple in front of the camera and how we direct you during the shoot. I like movement and I always try to start you off with poses and situations that add a little bit of energy and playfulness to the shot.
The way we try and shoot for both photo and video is to always have you in a small state of movement. This way you’ll never be holding still or holding the same position for too long. One thing we like to start off with which is very easy is a slow dance. Our team gets you to dance all the way around or 180 degrees and back. This way we’re getting you moving together. We may ask you to be playful together, give us smiles and of course some light kisses.
For the lady, your arms should be on your man’s shoulder (not on his hips) and feel free to move your hand over his back and even on his chest. This small and simple action gives us great shots for video and photography at the exact same time. We want to see you smile and have fun. If the lady isn’t smiling it isn’t working. You all have beautiful smiles so please make sure to show it as much as you can. Once we take some photos of you individually, feel free to move a little bit each time we take a few pictures. We’ll guide you along with the shoot but if you give us something to work with we’ll simply adjust it for the best angle and this gives us a natural and fresh image.
For the guys, make sure you’re confident with your lady. Let her feel that you’re holding her close and that you’re leading her in the dance. Don’t be too soft. Often I see the guy being a little soft and uncertain about what to do and if he should move her around too much. By all means go for it and have fun with it. As the shoot unfolds and you’re personal creativity is shown during the shoot we get new ideas from you and build upon them.
In the movie Shall We Dance Jennifer Lopez’s character says that the woman is the picture and the man is the frame. It’s a little funny but it’s true. So be strong an confident during the shoot, this will allow her to be more feminine and playful.
The key to getting natural images during the main part of the wedding shoot is that you must be confident individually and together. We want to see you have fun together in front of the camera. It’s out job to take your energy and start you off with some basic poses and slowly direct you to give us more action in all your poses. The key is movement. You can never be fully still. We can get romantic poses and even they have a small amount of movement in them. It’s our job to direct you and we will. But be confident in yourselves and in each other and then we’ll get those natural and fun photos you want for your wedding day.