The other side of the camera....

[633Squadron]

For Christmas - I promised Ms 633 that we will get a nice photo of the pair of us at a professional photographers.
I like the non traditional type photo's.

Oddly enough - it has not happened yet.... ( cough... Covid pandemic... cough)


Hopefully in a few months we will be able to do this.

However.
She is not a natural candidate in front of a camera, and I am totally useless. Think smiling like a mad axe murderer type of useless.

I don't want us to waste the photographer's time - so any tips from the other side of the camera - to help us get into a more natural smiling state

[singlecoil]

You'll be paying for the photographer's time so you certainly won't want to waste it.

I've done some portrait photography and when I've had couples who feel self conscious when in front of a camera then I've had good results by getting them to look at each other instead of at the lens. As for looking at the lens, whatever faces it is you are pulling when you do that I doubt you'll be able to keep doing that for more than a few minutes, and eventually you'll relax and some natural looking photos will result.

[Lynchie999]

you say "non traditional" ?

not in a studio ? just let the photographer do their thing, if they are decent they will make you feel relaxed and at ease and hopefully bag some shots you are happy with... and not looking awkward...

[Taita]

Couple of beers beforehand to relax?

[StevieBee]

A good photographer is as much an expert in human behaviour as they are a master of controlling light. They will know how to direct you both to get the shots you like so just go in with an open mind and follow the direction your given.

[Simpo Two]

I would fix up a scenic walk in the country on a nice day, and maybe a picnic, and invite the tog along. Make it a nice trip out rather than a studio shoot. The way I got the best photos was to be one of the party, not standing outside looking in. Everyone is more relaxed and that's the key. He/she is not The Photographer, just a friend who happens to have a camera.

[anonymous-user]

Hire a couple of models.

[SCEtoAUX]

Imagine the photographer is a person in a crowded room telling anyone who'll listen what an expert he is on a subject. Little does he know that you are listening in and are in fact, the world authority on said subjected, a tenured professor at Oxford, with countless papers to you name.

The look on your face, that's the one you want for you photos.

[ch37]

Is this a studio shoot? If you want non-traditional and to be as relaxed as possible, a walk around a nice beauty spot such as woods would be a far better option.

I shoot weddings and basically market myself to couples who don't want any fuss with photos. I don't pose couples at all, just go for a walk, have a laugh and shoot away, never fails regardless of how much they think they won't get any nice couples shots! The moment you ask them to do something specific ('just put your hands here and look towards each other") you've completely lost them.

Basically, don't worry about it and don't think about it, it's not your job, you're paying a photographer to get good photos and 80% of their job will be knowing how to work with you.

[Simpo Two]

Wot he said. There's nothing more artificial than a studio.

And it reinforces the importance of choosing someone you like and feel at ease with.

'ch37' seems exactly where I used to be