What to wear and tips for posing during your couples portrait session
How to pose during your Portrait Session
For many of you, our upcoming portrait session together may well be the first professional photoshoot you have ever done and you maybe a little nervous about what to wear and how to pose! If so, don’t worry, you are not alone and I’m sure if I were in-front of the camera rather than behind the camera I would be exactly the same! Most of us are not professional models but the good news is that it doesn’t take much to get some really beautiful photos together!
The word ‘posing’ gets a bit of a bad reputation these days and most would prefer more ‘natural’ and ‘candid’ shots during their photoshoot. I prefer to use the phrase ‘semi-posing’ as what I’m looking for is to get you into some nice base poses and then encourage some natural movement or interactions to really get that natural look we all want in our photographs.
It’s usually at the beginning of our photoshoot where we might feel a little stiff or awkward and that’s perfectly natural; it’s my job to help you relax and ease you into the session. It’s one of the main reasons why I only offer longer portrait sessions rather than mini sessions - I want to get you the best results I can and sometimes we need a little warm up time to get the very best photos!
We might start with some walking shots first that encourages some natural movement or perhaps some seated on a park bench as those scenes are usually easier to start with and warm up. I’ll be encouraging you throughout and we’ll have plenty of time together to see what works best for you - I promise you that by the end we’ll have a beautiful mix of semi-posed, natural and candid photographs that will stand the test of time.
I’d love to make a tips video myself someday but in the meantime, here’s a few videos that I found online that might be worth a watch before our photoshoot together!
Why not practice a little first?
Hopefully you’ll have some time to watch through 1 or 2 of these videos before our shoot together. I love the first video by Eichar photography which I feel is particularly useful and easy to understand. I encourage you to practice a little in your living room before the shoot day itself - just have fun with it! Once you know a few of these then it’ll be easy on the day for me to guide you from pose to pose and scene to scene.
Above all though don’t worry and don’t overthink things. We’ll be spending a couple of hours together and we will have plenty of time to ease into things and really make the most of our time together. I promise we’ll get a beautiful mix of natural and candid photography as well as some more posed and editorial shots should you want to.
What to wear for your portrait session?
Choosing what to wear is a key part of any portrait session and goes a long way into influencing the final look of your photos. Above all, my number one piece of advice is to keep it simple and timeless - avoid brand logos and any overly complicated patterns. Here are a few other things to keep in mind when choosing your outfit for the session.
Consider the seasons - what colours might compliment the Autumn leaves, lush Summer greenery or the delicate hues of the cherry blossoms in Spring?
Keep it simple and avoid brand logos and complicated patterns
Avoid very tight stripe patterns as cameras suffer from ‘moire’ which is explained in the first video link below
Consider colours that contrast well together. This might be a little technical but you could try using a ‘colour wheel’ to see what colours go well together.
Take a look through my portfolio and take a note of what outfits you like from other couples I have photographed before.
Be comfortable. Whilst there are definitely tips that really help an outfit come together, it’s also important to be yourself. If you’re always wearing a Hawaiian shirt because that’s what you love, then wear one on the day!
Consider how your outfits go together as a couple. It’s nice if you can create a bit of contrast together or wear colours that go together.
I hope those give you a few pointers for choosing your outfit but here’s a few really helpful videos that may help you visualise things a little more than text alone.
Final thoughts
Hopefully this has given you some useful tips to help prepare for your couples portrait session and shows how just a few simple tips can go a long way into really elevating how well your final photos turn out. Posing is nothing to be afraid of and I’ll be there throughout the photoshoot providing guidance and encouragement - don’t over think it and let’s just have fun with it! As for your outfits, always keep in mind that simple is best and dress for the seasons - you can’t go wrong!
There are of course a few other elements that go into a photoshoot such as the weather, lighting and location choices which I’ll explain in another article for you. When all of these elements come together I absolutely guarantee we’ll have a fantastic photoshoot together and create some memories that will look great on your wall many years from now.
I hope this guide helped and I genuinely can’t wait to photograph you!
