Together Side by Side

17.41

Explanation: Having a couple standing side by side, directly facing the camera, and expressionless, is something most portrait photographers try to avoid. But I borrowed this pose from some photographs from the early 1900s and then modernized it. The pose is old but the locations are new, which is why this contrast makes the pose attractive. I wanted to keep the old-pose feel, but I felt it could use a twist. I had the groom bring his left arm back and the bride to move her left leg forward just a tad. This subtle touch made the photo different from others and more interesting to look at.

17.41. The pose may be old but the locations are new, which is why this contrast makes the pose attractive.

17.42

Explanation: Standing side by side doesn’t mean that both people have to be facing the same direction. During a practice session with this pose, I began to change which direction the bride and groom were facing. By keeping the five key elements for posing in mind, no pose will look bad. To charge it up a bit, I had the bride face me and close her eyes. The closed eyes served two purposes: the sun was right in her face, and it also gave mood to the pose. I chose this background because the colors are all in the same family, which, as you’ll recall, is one of the techniques discussed in Chapter 5.