Speed posing tips: how to get different couple shots when the time is limited

If you’re a wedding photographer, it can happen that you don’t have enough time to get couple shots before or after the ceremony. However, you can create your workflow which will get the couple enough time to strike a lot of different poses in as little time as possible. Starting from a few basic poses, you can build upon them to get many different looks over a limited amount of time. With time, you’ll learn how to do them quickly and do it well, and get many beautiful shots of the couple in as little as a couple of minutes. Vanessa Joy from Adorama TV shares a couple of tips for speed posing and getting many beautiful couple shots even when the time is not on your side.

First of all, it’s important to find or create a good light. From there, you don’t need to move too much, just work on the poses and capture as much as you can.

The typical pose

You can start off with the “typical” pose when the couple hugs each other and the bride places her arm onto the groom’s shoulder. Vanessa points out that she doesn’t like them too much, but the couple may ask for them, or their parents. So, get them to strike a pose, and from there you can get a couple of shots where they look at the camera, at each other, kiss and so on.

Capture the moments and details

Once the “typical pose” is done, you can move to capturing semi-candid moments and details. Get the couple to stay together and interact with each other, talk, joke, and laugh. From there, you can circle around them and capture their smiles and the details of hair, dress, rings, suit and so on.

You can direct the couple to tickle or gently bite each other, there will be some laughter for sure, and you can capture those moments as well.

Solo shots

Finally, if you want to take some solo shots, get the couple to separate only by taking a few steps away from each other. From here, direct them to strike a pose, and get them to move the head or turn around just a bit.

Of course, when you have plenty of time or the shot scheduled on a different day than a wedding, you’ll have plenty of time. But there are days when you’ll have to rush, as the shoot is scheduled right before or after the ceremony. In situations like this, it’s useful to create a workflow for speed posing. These tips can be a useful guideline for creating your own workflow, and hopefully, they’ll save you when the time is limited and the shots need to be done.

[3 Overlooked Posing Secrets: Breathe Your Passion with Vanessa Joy | Adorama TV]