Let’s talk about posing

I realised it’s one thing every couple always asks me about and each time I catch myself being super excited about explaining the whole philosophy behind my work.
I’m so passionate about making you feel comfortable and making art that will reflect your personality and tell your story, that when I was posting this video on instagram, it took me forever to make it fit their 1min 30s limit.

I keep repeating the words like “authentic”, “true”, “natural” and “yours” every time anybody talks to me about my work and it’s because for me it’s an absolute essence of photography to tell the story of the ones being photographed and making art of every person’s real self, their true emotions, their personalities.

It’s not a natural situation for anybody to be in from of the camera, so it’s my job to help you show your true colours. I figured that the whole “recipe” for achieving it are those five step:

1. Getting to know you better – that’s my absolute golden ticket to creating authentic imagery in wedding photography. I always take my time to find out a lot about my couples, what you like, who you are, what makes you excited. This helps me understand better your vision and organize your photoshoot, your project or my wedding workflow. Choosing location, outfit or poses that would make you feel true to yourselves will help you feel more comfortable and confident.

• Location – I’m lucky enough to live in a beautiful country and travel to beautiful places, so finding photogenic spots is never a problem. Nevertheless, I’d still always encourage you that we choose not the most beautiful place, but the one that for some reason resonate better with the story of your relationship, with how and where you like to spend your free time together. Do you like hiking? Let’s go to the mountains! Do you always spend Sundays on the beach? Let me accompany you and sace those moments forever.
• Outfits – everytime I  send my couples a short guide I prepared about the choice of clothes and colours, I always encourage that they choose clothes that represent who they are and in which they feel comfortable and natural.
• Poses – from the first moment of the photoshoot I’ll be observing you and the way you’re interacting with each other, so I could encourage you to act in a natural way. If you don’t feel like getting lifted over the waves or you’re not big on running around or dancing, we’re gonna skip that part 100%!

2. Letting you get to know me and being open about everything. Obviously when we’re working together, you are the ones in the spotlight, but I want you to feel comfortable with me. It feels much easier and relatable to be photographed by another person you know than an anonymous with a camera. Whenever I feel like that’s what you need to relax, I’d ask you questions, joke around, make you tell me stories about yourselves but at the same time I’d always adjust the amount of my presence and let you feel intimate spending time with your loved one.

3. Being empathetic and adjusting the individual treatment for every client – There are couples that are very open about showing their affection in front of other people, and there are couples that might be a little bit more private and not as comfortable kissing/hugging/ dancing/ fooling around in front of other people or the camera. My job here is to be empathetic and evaluate the amount of directing/ posing you need. Everyone is different and everyone’s needs should be treated individually. Period. You are you and I’m here for it.

4. Posing – directing the movie about your love– I said I’d be talking about posing, but this part is basically the only one in which I’m actually mentioning it directly a little more. Both for the “subjects” and the photographer, changing the mindset during the photoshoot from TAKING PHOTOS to -> DIRECTING A MOVIE is a huge game-changer! It generates much more natural reactions and interactions, more movements and sets a really cool and intimate vibe. Some other tips would be:
– staying in constant movement
– when not feeling comfortable, just looking at your person or thinking about them

-staying close
-letting yourself enjoy the moment

5. Giving you feedback
– I can imagine that it has to feel weird and uncomfortable having to run, dance, jump, kiss two hundred times and not now what are the results of all the crazy things you’ve been doing for the last two hours. This is why I’d always put an extra effort so you could feel 100% included in the process: show you the photos and give you the feedback.