Smile, You're Being Posed Candidly

I often tell my wedding clients, “I create the best possible candid photos”, which is both ironic and disturbing at the same time. Just about every wedding client will tell me, “I want my photos to look candid and spontaneous and natural… nothing ‘posed’”. I then pose them in all sorts of situations (like this) and upon seeing them, love them. I think the misconception about photography, especially weddings, is that “candid” photos are all just snapshots of people having a good time with no interaction from the photographer. The problem with that is at LEAST half the time, people see me and my big camera, and as soon as someone sees a camera… what do they do? They face you and smile. OR, they’ll do their best to hide or turn the other direction. So one thing I help students in my photography class with is how to pose people to look natural, flattering and expressive. 90% of the time, if you can get the subject in front of the camera to NOT look at the camera, it’ll come off as looking candid/natural/photojournalistic. When a bride tells me they want “candid, natural-looking, photojournalistic” wedding photos, it makes me think their perception of wedding photos all look like stale, boring, group photos with expressionless mannequins looking directly into a camera. Not the case at all. A good photographer will know how to pose even the most shy and timid people into situations where they feel comfortable, beautiful and happy. This is from last weekend at the Camarillo Ranch House. Bride and groom didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony, but did want to touch each other. This is how I posed them. Sure feels natural to me.