Candid portraits are one of the highest trending photography types because they give us a sneak peek into the exact moment when the subject was clicked. As a professional photographer, dreading awkward silences and dead conversations during a photo session is natural. The statement stands true, especially if you are a professional wedding photographer or engagement photographer looking to maintain an excellent photography portfolio with pictures of “happy couples.” While preparing the ultimate posing checklist as a professional photographer, you would naturally want to include as many natural “couple poses” as possible.
Clients not used to facing professional cameras in their daily lives might take time to loosen up and feel comfortable. As a natural tendency, your photography subject might warp their behavior in front of the camera or flash their Chandler Bing smile! But the good news is- there are many ways for a professional photographer to make your clients feel comfortable. The end product (which will be the photo album) should thrill your clients and get them to recommend your professional photography skills to their friends and family. Apart from scouting the best photography locations to checking with optimum photography lighting settings, making your clients feel comfortable enough to have a fantastic shoot experience is another duty as a photographer to take note of.
Tips For Making Couples Happy During Professional Photoshoots:
Try to maintain a friendly atmosphere
When a professional photographer takes a picture, almost every couple gets nervous. Now, you need to make them feel comfortable to calm their nerves. Be sure to talk to them and make them laugh. After a while, they won’t feel like a stranger is taking pictures of them, and their nerves might calm down. Stay attuned to the needs of your couple and the photoshoot goals; being friendly and serious in turn. You will find that when people feel at ease during a shoot, the results are excellent. It’s one of the benefits of getting along with people during portrait photo shoots.
Consider them your best friends
Treating your clients more like friends will go a long way toward achieving the emotive images you want. Before you take a picture of a couple, spend as much time as possible getting to know them. Ask how they met and how they fell in love, or ask about how he proposed. What are their favorite things to do together? What are their favorite tv shows? You may find common ground that enhances your relationship and overall experience. You should be professional when emailing couples interested in your work, but it’s more important to talk to them like a friend. Show them who you are in your emails so that when they meet you in person, they will see that you are the same goofy, free-spirited professional photographer they got to know online. The best thing about this suggestion? When you treat your clients like your best friends, you start a genuine friendship with them that will last long after you have taken their pictures.
Learn to figure out what people are thinking
Learning to read your clients is one of the most important skills to hone as a professional photographer. Pay close attention to how the client acts; they are real people, not just two-dimensional subjects. You have to be like a chameleon in many ways, ready to do whatever the client needs to feel comfortable. During professional photo shoots, there is a lot of talking involved. Most people like constant positive feedback, but not everyone wants a running commentary. Figuring out what your client will respond to is also vital in your career. Be sure to ask for feedback now and then to enhance that experience at the moment and in future shoots as well. They might show you things you need to take care of during the process. Some people don’t feel like they can express what they want in their photo albums. You should try various things to make the photography process easier and cover as many angles as possible.
Mimic the behavior you want
As a pro photographer tip, some first-time clients will experience a lot of anxiety around the photo shoot experience. When people come to a shoot, they can be nervous or uncomfortable, looking to you for all their cues. If you set the tone as a professional photographer for the kind of atmosphere you want, your clients will almost automatically follow suit. By setting the tone and mood of the shoot from the start, you have a chance to show the relaxed, happy behavior you want to capture. This is so easy and fun to do. Tell jokes; show them you are willing to do weird things, and they will feel free to relax and create great images. For instance, when you are taking photos on a sunny day, you can give your hat to your client and ask them to strike a silly pose! Ultimately it’s not about putting on a show, but about being so true to yourself and comfortable in your own skin that your clients can’t help but do the same.
Spend time together pre-shoot
When you meet a couple in person for their session, even if they have told you about their story over email, you should still spend a few minutes getting to know them before picking up your camera. Even if you ask them the same questions you did in the email, it’s better to hear their story in person than through a screen. It allows you to see how they get along, hear how they talk to each other, and watch their personalities come to life. This also lets them learn more about YOU. If you want real, natural photos of them being passionate and close, you can bet they won’t open up to someone they don’t know. Tell them why you became a photographer, what your favorite food is, and why you love taking pictures of couples. When you do this, they will feel so much better around you. Pro professional photographer tip: If you can, meet them for a beer or coffee before the shoot to get the session started. This will be a great icebreaker that will make everyone feel more comfortable and let you talk to each other first as friends.
Show the couples that a camera is just a normal thing
Some photographers have a hard time with couples who are afraid of the camera. They don’t know what to do to make them feel at ease. As a professional photographer, you may have met some people who don’t like being photographed. If you are clicking wedding photos, there is a chance that one of the people you are with is camera shy. In that case, there’s only one thing that can help. You can do something to the camera so that people don’t pay so much attention to it. You can try some ways to make the couple feel calm so that you capture great wedding photos. Treating your camera like it’s something normal, like a chair or a mailbox, you can help couples forget it’s there (well, almost). Before you start taking pictures, spend as much time as you can talking and relaxing with the couple. Hold it like it’s nothing more important than a cup of coffee. This may seem like a small thing to do, but your clients are watching you see how they should act. If you act like the camera is nothing to worry about, they will do the same.
Talk about some exciting events
You might have interesting stories about your work as a photographer. You can tell the couples about them to make them feel less nervous and more at ease. Sometimes the best way to keep everyone happy is to tell stories.
Go for actions instead of poses
When you tell a couple exactly how to pose, there’s no room for movement. For more natural and emotional poses, add action. Tell your couple to joyfully run away from the camera, ask the groom to spin his bride around, or tell them to pretend you don’t exist and kiss passionately. Transitioning your work from strict posing to a photojournalistic style, your work will come to life. Now, there is certainly a place for poses in your photography work, but give your couple something to do in the pose. Capture them talking to each other or laughing so there captured reactions are more natural.
Talk to them about the ideas you have
You can teach the couples how to pose by repeating your ideas. You can also show them the photos you have taken and ask them if they like them or not. If you follow this particular couple photography tip, you will find out what they are drawn to.
Natural smiles and real emotions in photographs are always better than fake ones. But how do you get them? While creating your wedding photography timeline, you might think that clicking happy subjects can be a difficult task. People have always preferred friendly professional photographers for their professional photo shoots. They would naturally book someone who can fulfill their needs and make the photography experience worthwhile. Hence these tried-and-true strategies are amazing for making your photography client feel comfortable and excited.
