No Posing Please!

This probably won’t be new, but most people don’t feel completely at ease in front of the camera.

In fact, people who contact us for a wedding photo shoot, often tell us “I don’t like being photographed, I hate being in front of the camera”.

This probably won’t be new, but most people don’t feel completely at ease in front of the camera.

In fact, people who contact us for a wedding photo shoot, often tell us “I don’t like being photographed, I hate being in front of the camera”.

Sometimes, when we meet a couple for the first time, this is one of the topics we talk about most, the first that is addressed.

Here is the main “problem” of many couples: they are organizing the wedding and the photos are the priority for them. Their dream is to capture all those authentic and spontaneous moments during their wedding day and yet they hate being in front of the camera, and yes: they feel uncomfortable with the idea of having photographers around!

Nothing new! It is completely normal to feel this way, in reality we feel exactly the same way when we are photographed!

For this, it is necessary to choose carefully the wedding photographer, also giving importance to the harmony that one feels with him / her and not only based on the economic proposal more or less convenient.

You want beautiful images but hate posing photographs

“Posing” has almost become a dirty word in wedding photography, where every photographer (including us) talks about how he works in the style of marriage reportage or spontaneous and documentary style.

Words like natural and spontaneous photography are used more and more frequently (again, yes, even by us) in an attempt to alleviate the concerns of couples who come to our websites.

We would never dream of using the word “posed portraits”! Everyone would run like hell! Just to hear those words, everyone imagines rigid, embarrassing and horribly sweetened photographs of the bride and groom in front of the sunset!

Can we make a confession? We hope not to discourage you! In reality, we really like the photographs we pose! Wait … don’t leave yet! Read on!

We love wedding reportage, documentary wedding photography, candid photography. We really like it!

There is no greater satisfaction, for us during the wedding day than to capture an unexpected smile, or a look of understanding, an emotional hug and the laughter of the guests.

This type of images is what we commit ourselves to do for 95% of the time on the wedding day. We know that this is what couples choose when they book our wedding photo shoot and above all, these moments are the most important part of the wedding we want to tell.

But we don’t want to lie to you! We also love to capture some beautiful portraits.

We do not feel that we have done a complete job without delivering at least some really beautiful images of the newly married couple.

And this, it is true, involves a very small dose of “pose”. But posing is not necessarily embarrassing, distasteful, and posing absolutely does not mean doing something stupid or unnatural.

It may seem senseless, but it’s true. Posing well is difficult! It involves the active involvement of the couple that is photographing themselves, trying to make them relaxed, causing them to interact in a natural way, trying to get around any shyness or prejudice.

All this while we are choosing the best position, trying to take advantage of the most beautiful light and making sure that the setting on your camera is correct. Sometimes it’s tiring! Probably – another small confession – it is one of the moments of the photo shoot where we struggle more.

Totally relaxed photography!

During the wedding day, we do not kidnap the bride and groom by keeping them away from their guests for too long – we want you to enjoy the day of your wedding with the families and friends you have invited.

We usually ask about 20 minutes of your time for some portraits around the location.

Most couples agree that it is nice to get away from everyone for a brief moment just to spend some time together alone after the ceremony.

We often start with a very small, relaxed walk hand in hand around the reception venue. We will be worried before we have found the right views for the portraits.

In general, we favour natural light and we are very fascinated by the textures of old walls, by ancient doors typical of the villas of Tuscany, or by some shades of green typical of the olive trees of our countryside.

We have been keeping an eye on you for some time now and we will have guessed your style and the way you interact with each other, so it will be easy to ask yourself a few small gestures.

We will not give you orders but we will probably indicate the direction in which to look to be more in favour of the light, or where to put your hands!

In the meantime, we will probably tell you about your friends or tell you what we saw at the ceremony, we will joke with you and also between us, so you will not feel too anxious to be in front of the camera and maybe you will not even notice when and how we are photographing.

We’ll do a few jokes to make you smile or maybe we’ll have a squabble between us for the first photographer … all this to make you understand that, while you’re posing, it won’t seem to you at all!

How to get the most out of your portrait session

There’s no denying it: some people are easier to photograph than others.

Although we always strive to make sure that couples enjoy themselves and are comfortable during their portrait session, some people still feel a little awkward. However, it never happened to us that a couple asked us to stop!

Indeed, often the most suspicious and reticent couples in front of the camera let themselves be carried away by the fun and joy of their wedding day when we arrive at portraits (we always leave everyone time to have a drink before!)

We discover that they are already relaxed and happy and it does not take much work on our part to capture smiles and natural laughter.

But if you are very worried about the portraits of your wedding day, here are some of our little tips.

Engagement shots normally last about 1 hour, a much longer time than wedding day portraits. They are a great way to do a little test. For us, it’s an opportunity to see how you interact, it’s an opportunity for you to see that it’s probably not as scary as you’re imagining.