Posing Guide: 21 Sample Poses to Get You

Started with Photographing Weddings

Previously in this posing guide series we took a look to posing women,posing men, posing children, posing

couples and posing groups of people. In this article let’s address a popular photographic event – wedding.

I would like to state from the very beginning, that weddings in general are a major commercial industry to many

professional photographers. Shootingwedding photography professionally is a much, much bigger topic than just 21

sample poses. The aim of this article is only to provide you with some initial guidance and ideas to take some nice

bride and groom pictures.

1. The wedding veil is a superb accessory for a bride’s close-up portrait. You may want to use manual zoom to focus

on the eyes, otherwise the auto mode will focus on the veil’s texture.

2. A very good opportunity for a great picture is photographing the bride or both newlyweds in the wedding car.

3. The romantic and passionate kiss is another must-have shot from the event. Definitely try to capture both faces

including the eyes. Without that you will probably produce a dull shot.

4. Very easy and kind pose. The newlyweds simply and naturally embrace while bringing their cheeks together. Take

care that the bridal bouquet is nicely placed and turned towards the camera.

5. Another beautiful pose with the groom embracing the bride from the back. The newlyweds may look romantically at

each other or straight to the camera. Or they might kiss for an even more affectionate pose.

6. Just a slight variation of the previous ones, keep the newlyweds close together, but find a way to get a shot from

an elevated angle.

7. In weddings you can’t really go wrong by asking the newly weds to kiss for a shot whenever there is an appropriate

moment. They won’t complain anyway!

8. If possible, arrange an outdoor shot, take some pictures of the couple from a distance and use some open space in

a background.

9. Absolutely easy and a bit more formal pose, creates a calm and intimate mood.

10. The groom holding the bride in arms, easy to pose, however be careful choosing the right shooting angle – both

faces should be visible.

11. A pose with the groom holding the bride works not only from a distance, but makes a very nice pose for a close-

up as well.

12. Certainly a staged pose – the bride falling into the groom’s hands. But if the newly weds are responsive, poses

like that could work out extremely well.

13. Weddings don’t need to be and sometimes really aren’t at all that serious. Don’t be afraid to make some fun, ask

the newly weds to loose their shoes and just run around a bit and snap some frames.

14. Never forget that there often are good opportunities shooting from the back.

15. A fun pose with the newlyweds kissing passionately. Pay attention to the wedding dress: It shall look free-falling

and natural, as opposed to stuck and creased under the groom’s leg.

16. A gorgeous pose for a bride’s portrait. The bride should sit on the ground (or a very low stool) with the wedding

dress nicely arranged around her. Shoot from above with the bride looking slightly upwards.

17. Fun and simple pose, the newlyweds clinking champagne glasses. For a more creative shot you could get real

close and focus on the glasses, leaving the portraits blurred.

18. Another creative way to play with a shallow depth of field. Use the widest possible aperture and keep the groom

in a distance from the bride. Focus on the bride, leaving him slightly out of focus.

19. The newlyweds dancing is just another must-have shot. Take pictures with the bride and groom facing towards

the camera, making both faces clearly visible. They may look to the camera or at each other.

20. For some creative results, don’t concentrate only on bride and groom. There are many interesting corresponding

objects to shoot, and these photos especially will make the event’s photo album far more engaging. Thus, take

separate shots with single objects. Examples are the wedding bouquet, jewelery, clothing details, champagne

glasses, wedding rings, wedding car elements etc.

21. The final point isn’t about posing proper, rather just an idea for a post production. Most probably you will have a

bunch of photos from the event, so use them to make a small collage (or several ones). Pick only some objects or

crops from other pictures and combine them into a balanced composition. Use some unified filter effects or simply

convert them to black-and-white in order to achieve outstanding results. Such collages indeed are pure pleasure to

an eye!

And furthermore take a look also at the other articles in posing series, particularly posing couples. Many of those

couple poses can be used perfectly for bride and groom. And, of course, take a look to articles on posing female

subjects and posing men. You may find there some appropriate poses for individual portraits.