In this tutorial we go over our system of Foundation posing, and why it’s important on every engagement shoot. Posing is one of the areas you’ll spend the most time studying in your photography career, quality poses are essential for quality photos. In the years that we’ve been doing engagement sessions we found that the majority of poses for couples photography are based off of 4 basic feet and shoulder configurations, and we call these 4 configurations “Foundation Poses.”
BASIC POSES FOR COUPLES WRITTEN ARTICLE
We created this Foundation Posing methodology for 4 very important reasons: simplicity, framework, client comfort and consistency. If you’re new to posing and couples photography you’ll want to develop a good system of Foundation Poses so you can avoid making your couples look uncomfortable or unnatural in front of the camera.
1. Simplicity
For Photographers that aren’t experienced in directing and posing couples, these Foundation Poses will help you achieve different looks quickly. This way you’ll have a system and a go-to arsenal of poses that you can refer to whenever you’re out shooting.
2. Framework
These foundation poses build a framework for posing to prevent photographers from making common mistakes. For instance, you’ll know exactly where their hands should be placed, or how and when to look at each other. Having this framework also prevents photographers from running out of posing ideas during a shoot.
3. Client Comfort
Very few people get their photos taken for a living, so for most people posing in front of a camera can be an uncomfortable situation. Foundation posing breaks down the posing process into simple chunks that are easy to remember and easy to communicate. We find that after a half hour of shooting, the clients are able to anticipate what how you want them to pose, and they’ll begin to do them naturally.
4. Consistency
Having a good knowledge of Foundation posing will give you a solid set of consistent poses that you can use on all your shoots. We always encourage photographers (especially the ones in our studio) to try new things and poses, but these Foundation poses build a consistent style that we can always fall back on.
