Have you ever started a shoot and come to an absolute blank?! Hands up! I have! Not knowing where I wanted to take them or what I wanted for the end result. Could they see me looking nervous? did I look like I didn’t know what I was doing? Or, that would have been a great shot if only I had my settings right! On and on it could go. But all of this is just nerves throwing you off your game. Overtime I’ve got myself a little system going that I refer to and it’s helped me out so much. I use 5 super simple things to start my shoots off right and keep them flowing.
I have them written out below, but in case you want the speedier version Ive also put them onto a video.
- Educate. Let you couple know how the shoot is going to go, so they know what to expect. Sure it might feel a tad awkward at times but that’s why they hired you – to take all that unease away.Let them know how the shoot will plan out so they know how things are going to feel.
2. Don’t start to close up. Not everyone is used to being in front of the camera, so give them some space. I like to get a little bit away from them and let them know that I’m testing the light. This is great for a few reasons. 1 – You’re going to have your light perfect when you start shooting. 2 – They are getting used to hearing the clicks of the camera, so are already getting more comfortable. 3 – You can use this time to sneak in a few shots. They are not feeling like they are being photographed – so you always get some good shots here.
3. Have a game plan. I like to get inspo from magazine – I like the style of magazines and bring it to the wedding field. Making normal everyday people feel and look great. I used to analyse about 3-5 poses, break down how the hands were positioned, how they were stood. And I would figure out ways to get those images into fluid motion and create it with my couples. If you have 3 poses you can think of – monopolise on them. Shoot 1 pose 5 different ways. Close up. Wide. Off centre. Details. From a completely different angles. From above. Shoot in on different lenses to change the feel.
4.Don’t get trigger happy on the kissing. It’s SO easy to fall into the trap off, ok, get together and have a kiss – on repeat. It fills a gap and gives them something to do. absolutely get a few kisses in, but broaden your shoot – you have more in you than that and they wont want to see a whole gallery of them kissing and you won’t want to edit a whole gallery of kissing!
5. Have fun! You have to keep your shoots fun, because if you are not enjoying yourself then your couples are definitely not. If you feel the nerves then stop, take a breather have a little chat. Your couples are human – be natural and you’ll soon start receiving the same vibes back.
I hope this helps if your starting out or feel nervous on a shoot and if you’d like to see more of this shoot take look here. These are just my opinions but I hope that they can help someone. Happy Monday xx
Natasha x
