Posing large bride with thin groom

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Hello,

I am looking for some posing advice on how to pose a large bride with a thin groom. Ideally some awesome YouTube video's or visuals to look at. I encountered well thought out write up without any pictures and found it hard to follow. Lot's of... Position A in front of B with their heads facing each other....

I'm a visual learner lol

Found some good stuff on posing large individuals but looking to incorporate a partner, more specifically a skinny partner.
 
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Have the bride hold the groom? Only teasing.

I've had a couple larger brides, luckily they were perfectly okay with their bodies and no one "cared", which made my life easier.

But the best thing you can do is keep everyone relaxed and laughing. If they are uptight and bothered it will show in the photos.

Avoid football shoulders and gobble neck and you should be just fine.


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Short lighting, place the groom in front of the bride, basically using him to "block" part of the bride.
 
As just a bsic strategy, try to position her at a 30 to no more than 40 degree angle to the camera, which shows her bustline well, and he square-shouldered to the camera and with her far shoulder behind his shoulder will make him look "wider", and will show her off in a flattering way. The idea is that it will be him that you try and show off as being wider. She'll probably have a lovely dress and ample cleavage that will draw a lot of attention, so just positioning him square to the camera will be about all you'll need to do. Besides, it's doubtful that she will expect to look like Barbie.
 
Have the bride hold the groom?
....
But the best thing you can do is keep everyone relaxed and laughing. If they are uptight and bothered it will show in the photos.
....
Avoid football shoulders and gobble neck and you should be just fine.

You joke but one of the shots she specifically asked for was a forced perspective where the groom holds his hand out just in front of the camera blowing a kiss, with her way in the background looking like she is in his hand blowing a kiss back

I've know the bride for a good while and we're going to have an awesome time. I'm just trying to give her the best shots I can and want to have a couple strong shots where the last thing you think about is the size of anyone.
 
Hello,

I am looking for some posing advice on how to pose a large bride with a thin groom. Ideally some awesome YouTube video's or visuals to look at. I encountered well thought out write up without any pictures and found it hard to follow. Lot's of... Position A in front of B with their heads facing each other....

I'm a visual learner lol

Found some good stuff on posing large individuals but looking to incorporate a partner, more specifically a skinny partner.

I would shoot from up or high angle. You can also use her vail to cover some of the body parts :)
And the best tip use short light.
 
I was a big bride with a skinny groom and Derrel's advice is spot on. My favourite shots of the day are posed a lot like this. And my FAVOURITE was from a high angle (the photographer stood on the edge of the fountain and shot down at us). I don't look skinny, but between the awesome dress and the cleavage and the angle, I look pretty damn good.
 
Well I can't really say I nailed the posing. Little nerves and lot of the circumstances. There was 35-40 mins for all the family, wedding party and posed photos. It was small venue and all the guests were surrounding us the entire time. We kept losing the wedding party when we needed them wasting more of our time. Did I mention it was hot? Still about 100 at 5pm and it took it's toll on the couple. They just wanted out of the heat.

Melissa + Martin-250.jpg Melissa + Martin-258.jpg Melissa + Martin-269.jpg
 
These are unedited btw, I am still culling the images.
 
The first one of the three is a pretty flattering pose. The third one isn't bad, I see what you're going for, and it works, but isn't the most flattering for the bride.

I would suggest not showing them the second one and looking for something else that is more flattering to the bride. You've got her pretty square to the camera, which makes her look larger. You've got her arm right in the middle of the photo, which brings the focus to an unflattering part of the body, and having her arm bent, instead of extended makes it worse. You've shot from a low angle, which also make her look larger. Also, the bouquet is blocking the most interesting part of her dress.
 
Not bad given how challenging a situation this can be. #1 is a nice image, good expression and works well, 'though I wish you hadn't cropped the boquet. #2... My choice for this would have been to have the groom square to the camera with the bride turned toward him about 30 degrees and boquet lower. Also, with heavier clients, ESPECIALLY women, be very careful about upper arms; having her hold the boquet with arms extended would have 'thinned' out that upper arm. The last one again, arms, arms, arms (I will be VERY happy when the current fashion of sleeveless wedding dresses goes away!).
 
Thanks for the great feedback

I was trying to get her to hold the bouquet lower down on her hip and to keep her arm bent some and away from her body so it did compress and make it larger. I should have directed better to keep it down. The one thing I forgot was a step stool and I am pretty short at 5'6" so I couldn't really nail the from above look. I was planning to use some nice stairs in front of the venue but I sear 90% of the guests were chain smokers and didn't care to head in to the AC.

So let me ask for some feedback on a different topic....

I didn't get "The Kiss". The officiant was a close friend of theirs and his first wedding, he did this just for them. He delivered a good wedding but as I was moving from the grooms side in the back he just says "Well are you going to kiss her or what" and bam it was over.

I'm nervous how the bride is going to take it. Not much recourse as I have myself covered per the contract but not loving this...
 
...So let me ask for some feedback on a different topic....

I didn't get "The Kiss". The officiant was a close friend of theirs and his first wedding, he did this just for them. He delivered a good wedding but as I was moving from the grooms side in the back he just says "Well are you going to kiss her or what" and bam it was over.

I'm nervous how the bride is going to take it. Not much recourse as I have myself covered per the contract but not loving this...
I wouldn't worry too much about 'the kiss'; there are lots of weddings where you simply can't get it because of church/officiant rules. A lot is going to depend on how the bride feels about herself, whether she's comfortable in her own body, or not. Regardless, as long as the paperwork covers you, you should be fine.
 
You mention not having a step stool. One skill that is very useful is to learn to hold the camera up in the air. I learned with the Nikon F to extend my arms all the way up and hold the camera at the correct angle to get the shot. (a lot of film used to learn to get the angle right) Great for candid shots at the reception also.
With the D5300 the screen tilts out and down so it's a no-brainer now..............
 
You mention not having a step stool. One skill that is very useful is to learn to hold the camera up in the air...and hold the camera at the correct angle to get the shot. (a lot of film used to learn to get the angle right)...
With the D5300 the screen tilts out and down so it's a no-brainer now..............

Yeah I certainly used that on the dance floor and other times but it is hard. I always seem to dip it to the right. I don't mind during the reception and such but just isn't right IMO during the formal poses.

I sure would love to have that D750... But a D600 and D700 isn't bad :)

Got to talk tot he bride today and no biggie on The Kiss!
 

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