articles/Weddings/howphotographerservive-page2
Published 01/04/2007
Our sexy, modern bride - one may not usually think about sexy and wedding in the same thought. Of course, there is always the lure of the honeymoon and the anticipation of all that awaits. But let me expand your wedding photo thoughts a bit further:
A bride should look and feel her most beautiful on her wedding day. She has waited months, even years, for this day and has prepared everything so carefully down to the last intimate detail. Finally the moment arrives. She has been lying in bed for hours, waiting for the day to begin; waiting for you to take pictures of her that she will cherish for the rest of her life. It is the beginning of an amazing and fun experience for the bride, and you, the photographer, are there to control and, in fact, create it. Sounds sexy, doesn't it?
This story is all about sensuality - and finding the sexiness in the bride on what should be one of the best days of her life.
How do we do it? My concepts are simple and consistent. My first rule is to always have a plan and work with a system. Working within the system is time-efficient and the speed of my postproduction is increased significantly, as well. I am also commonly asked how do you get your brides to lie on the ground, show their legs? It is simple - I show them, way ahead of time. It is based on those very poses that they booked my services to begin with. By showing samples of this sexy type of photography in the studio and verbally explaining my concepts and plans, they know what to expect and won't baulk at such suggestions at the wedding. I explain that in order to achieve these results, they must be openminded and willing to do whatever I ask. If they are fully apprised of what's in store, they will be comfortable enough to co-operate. If you show it, they will do it. It's that simple!
Where does sexy posing come from? As you can see from the photos in this article, first, the tone is set with the body, secondly, the facial expression, and finally, the all-important ingredient of simple, even lighting. One of the main reasons I love to pose photos, is it gives me the opportunity to make my subjects look and feel sexier than they ever have in their entire lives. In order to achieve that lofty goal, it is of utmost importance to stretch and manipulate the body, hiding from the camera what we don't want to see and accentuating the best features. Anyone can digitally alter their subject's bad points in postproduction, but I don't want to spend hours in front of a computer. I'd rather get it right in camera.
An excellent means of minimising less attractive features, while accentuating better ones is placing the subject on the ground. What most photographers don't realise is that laying the subject down, so that they are looking up, allows you so much more latitude for manipulating the subject. In other words, with the intense camera height and the subjects forced to look upward, they are naturally stretched out and, therefore, thinned out.
When the subject is standing, the same positive results can be achieved. The key to posing is simple: remember to keep the subject's weight to the back hip, while opening up the subject's front shoulder and leaning the subject forward at the waist. This allows the body to completely stretch and naturally thin itself out.
As you can see in these photos, once the element of posing is managed, the rest is about creating chemistry. I am as consistent in my interaction with my subject as I am in my photography. During my time with the bride and groom, I am soft-spoken and always attentive to creating a relaxed, comfortable, and fun mood. That element of personality,
Coupled with these signature poses, are some of the driving forces behind our studio's incredible success.
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SWPP - Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers
The Society of Photographers
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Tel 00 44 (0) 1745 356935
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