Posing and background

[DiskoJoe]

I did a recent shoot at Agave road as a second shooter and another photographer (theo civitello) that posts here also did a shoot there the week before. I noticed some key differences in the way that both photographers used the setting when posing. I thought it would be helpful to others to show a comparison of the two and discuss the pros and cons of the end result.

I will start first with the wedding I was shooting at. I was second shooter and did not have control over what the poses were or the location for the poses. I think some of the locations my lead used were not very good. From the picture below you can see how the lead posed the subjects in front of a wall for the main building. Why she thought that the orange stucco was a good choice I really do not know. Also the scrunched posed looks childish and makes the women look short and stumpy.


bending pose by DiskoJoe, on Flickr

Now Theo was at the same location. He decided to use the nice wooden fence and grand entrance as the backdrop and placed the bride on a nice portion of the curving walk way. This draws your attention to her. Also he used a distorted angle from below that prevented you from seeing the parking lot that is actually behind the gate. IMO this was a much better use of the scenery and literally only about 20ft from where the first picture was shot.

http://civitello.smugmug.com/Weddings/Ryan/i-scCLBbG/0/X3/12-X3.jpg
If anybody has something additional they would like to add or other examples please feel free to add to the discussion here. I know seeing this was very beneficial to me and hopefully this will help others when making these types of decisions when shooting gigs.

 

[MReid]

The first shot probably came out really nice, assuming the background is uniform. The light is a bit mottle but assume also the photography fixed that. The pose is a good one, the girls look relaxed and having fun. He probably took a long shot including their legs and feet and then a closer shot of their heads close together. Except for the mottled light (looks like one step forward would have fixed that) looks like he knows what he is doing.
The second shot not as much. The background doesn't work and the framing and light could be better. The bride looks "posed" stiff and uncomfortable.

 

[DiskoJoe]

I couldnt get past the orange wall. Its really plain and boring and just an awful color. All of the shots I had that got this in the background I turned black and white. The background would not be uniform because there was a door off the the left behind them that would be chopped off in the shot. But I would rather see trees and old patina wood as opposed to flat wall orange stucco.

 

[KmH]

The color of the wall is a nice compliment to the color of their dresses. Have a look at a color wheel.

Using color is part and parcel to visual image composition.

 

[DiskoJoe]

The color of the wall is a nice compliment to the color of their dresses.

Interesting point. I hadn't really thought of it in that aspect. Usually my brain gets drawn to architectural details first. Plus I think my judgement may be clouded by my hatred for all things stucco.

 

[daarksun]

The wall was a good contrast. it's big, single colored and textured. The blue dresses stand out against the wall. The hunched over poses doesn't really work for me, but if the client is happy with the pose then it's cool. Hopefully there was more than one image taken here with a variety of poses.