If you’re new to couple portraits, you probably know that it could be a bit tricky. It’s not always easy to get them relaxed and feel comfortable in front of the camera. Rachel and Daniel from Mango Street will give you some quick tips how to take and more natural-looking portraits of couples. In their short and sweet video tutorial, they suggest some pretty awesome techniques with just the right amount of quirkiness. But according to the couple shots they took – they seem to work.
First of all, the duo suggests that you don’t see your task to be posing the couples. You should rather direct them to be as natural as possible. The photos will be more valuable both to you and your clients if they depict who they really are, not what you want them to look like in the photos.
1.Make them feel comfortable
Before you start any photo session, there are two important points to consider. The first is that you want to make sure that your subjects are as comfortable as possible. It will make them feel better during the shoot, make your job easier, and the photos more beautiful and natural.
2. Find the best light
The second most important point is that you want to find the best possible light and put the couple there. But you already know this, right? Rachel and Daniel prefer natural over artificial light, as far as I could conclude from their videos and photos. So I guess this is why they suggest “finding” instead of “creating” the light. After all, I believe that the couple would feel way more relaxed in the natural light than surrounded by tons of lighting gear.
3. Add movement
Movement is a great way to make the couples loosen up. But more than that – it also helps you create playful and fun shots. You can provoke the movement by playing music and getting them to dance. They can also run towards you or away from you as you take photos. They can hold hands and spin. Feel free to be creative, and although these may not be the shots you planned, they can really turn out to be beautiful.
4. Provoke emotions
Instead of posing your couple and getting them to act out an emotion – why don’t you try provoking a genuine one?
You can elicit love by telling your couple to whisper something nice to each other’s ear. For example, what they love most about each other, what’s the first thing they remember about each other and so on.
Then, you can elicit laughter by telling them to sniff each other’s hair or tickle each other a bit. You can secretly tell only one of them to do it to the other, to add some surprise. One of Daniel’s suggestions is really funny, and I can totally see it work – get them to whisper the list of their favorite vegetables in their sexiest voice. I can totally see myself crack up with laughter when my man whispers “potato” in a sexy way.
5. Have them maintain and display intimacy
It’s wonderful to capture intimacy in photos, and it’s probably the most difficult to elicit from the couples in a photo session. Especially if they feel uncomfortable. So, now that they are relaxed in front of you and your camera, direct them to always maintain one point of contact. Hold hands, hug each other, touch each other’s hair… Just be close. Place them in flattering and natural positions, so they feel comfortable both with you and with each other.
Love is beautiful, but capturing it in photos is trickier than it sounds. I loved this tutorial from Mango Street, and I hope you enjoyed it and you’ll apply some of the techniques on your next couple session.
[5 Tips for Posing Couples — Portrait Photography Tutorial | Mango Street]
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