The Non Posers Guide to Wedding Posing

The Non Posers Guide to Wedding Posing

to pose (verb) – assume a particular position in order to be photographed, painted, or drawn.

As a wedding photographer I have a lot of meetings with couples who are planning their big day and I seem to be hearing sentences like “We hate having our pictures taken” or “We don’t want traditional pictures” or even “I don’t look good on any pictures ever!” I can’t teach you to pose like a model but I can make you feel relaxed and the position you naturally and cleverly without being awkward. I can pose you without looking posed.
bride and groom sky portrait
When I kneel down and shoot from a lower angle, I can cut the landscape out and just frame you with sky.
If you are a professional model you don’t assume a pose, you know how to pose. But let’s face it, 99% of us don’t know how to pose and that is totally ok. Because I will tell you all you need to know!

I love taking wedding portraits! I love the challenge of using what the venue and landscape around it offer. I love working to time restraints and having to be creative quickly. There is no point planning those pictures in too much detail before the wedding as you cannot predict the weather, how much light you will have at what time, which angle the light comes from, what flowers will blossom, where is the grass is high…

“We don’t really like having our picture taken.” You’re not alone and it’s ok to feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. Don’t be afraid, I will take you by the hand and make you feel relaxed & comfortable.
I am great at taking quite different portraits of you in a short time and in just one place. I will tell you where to stand but I will not tell you small things like where to place your hands – I let you do that naturally. I will tell you to look at each other or look at me without making you smile minutes at a time. Instead I will distract you and let you be you.

Here are 5 easy ways of taking fun and creative portraits of you.

 

1) I step away & leave you alone.

At the beginning of our little portrait session I am trying to keep it really simple. I look for a beautiful setting, leave you there and step away. By leaving you alone you can be yourselves, have a chat, a laugh or even a sneaky kiss. I use a zoom or portrait lens which works great when you are far away and produces amazing results.

discreet wedding portrait
bride and groom in the garden of the royal crescent hotel
romantic wedding portrait
natural wedding couple

2) I use frames.

I find features that frame you, whether they are ornamental like an arch or spatial like a path leading through an orchard. Framing the couple always looks good, whether it is during the day or at night. All you do is gaze at each other in amazement!

This shot is spectacular but the set up is extremely simple and quick to achieve.
bride and groom under an arch
wedding portrait in an orchard
bailbrook house staircase with newly weds
silhouette wedding portrait

3) I encourage you to be yourself. 

I ask you silly questions that make you interact with each other and forget about my camera. “Tell me your favourite moment of the day” or “How do you feel right now? I don’t want you to think about me and my camera, but about how special the day is, how much you are enjoying yourself and how awesome your new husband/wife is.

 

bride and groom in love
fun wedding portrait

4) I am getting closer

Once you have warmed up to this process I get my portrait lens out and get a little closer. Don’t worry, I will never be right in your face or on your toes or in your pockets, I’m just having a little closer look, which is still at a little distance with my trusty 85mm portrait lens.

close up portrait of bride and groom

5) And finally: Have fun

Jump, dance, kiss, hug your friends. It’s your day and it’s special! Whatever you want to do that is you and makes you happy!

jumping wedding party portrait
bride and groom hugging in a field
My method is easy: make sure you enjoy the day – you will look happy on your photographs. Delegate all duties before the day – you will look more relaxed. And don’t worry about your photographer too much. Then you will achieve natural, relaxed and genuine photographs that you will hopefully cherish for many years to come.

Copyright © Betty Bhandari

More weddings you’ll love:

My best 2022 wedding photographs

My best 2022 wedding photographs

100 of my favourite wedding photographs for you. Twenty twenty two - a wedding photographer's summary   It's the time of the year again where I want to showcase the best wedding photos I have taken last year. After a strange and somewhat displaced 2021, I was...

Bailbrook House Wedding Photography with Lucy and Tom

Bailbrook House Wedding Photography with Lucy and Tom

This beautiful autumn wedding took place at Bailbrook house at the end of November (hence the beautiful Christmas decorations) and was a day full of excitement, but not just of the good kind.I started my work in the morning when seeing the bride Lucy and her...

My best 2021 wedding photographs

My best 2021 wedding photographs

My 100 best wedding photos from 2021   And I'm not going to lie - this was a strange post-pandemic year! How to sum up a busy year after a year as hard as 2020? I'm a little lost for words. Most of my 2020 bookings moved to 2021; some of them got pushed even further...

For more information & to check availability:

(or so simply say hi)

9 + 13 =

I’m located in Bath, Somerset.

email    betty.bhandari@gmx.net

phone   +44 (0)7984 029 639

I will get back to you within 48 hours maximum. In the unlikely event that you don’t hear back from me please check your email spam folder.

10 reasons to hire a professional wedding photographer

10 reasons to hire a professional wedding photographer

5
NOVEMBER, 2017

Professional

Eperienced

Insured

Why should I hire a professional wedding photographer?
​This week an email made me think about this subject. A lady inquired for my services but then decided she didn’t need a professional photographer anymore, explaining that a member of the family would take the photographs instead. I thanked her for her enquiry but felt like saying “BUT …” Why should she hire a wedding photographer instead of a family member?
wedding ring exchange

An experienced wedding photographer anticipates and knows how to capture fleeting moments.

Let me start by saying that her decision is totally legitimate and fine with me. She might be on a budget or she might not want many photographs. But her email suggested that a) everyone with a digital camera can take the wedding photographs and that b) therefore you don’t need to spend money on hiring a professional photographer.

Now, I disagree with those two points – obviously! They are based on a lack of knowledge and understanding of what a professional wedding photographer does. I emphasize the word ‘professional’ as this is a person who makes their living from photographing weddings and has extensive experience in doing so.

A professional photographer will have years of experience capturing weddings, they will know the shots to take, they will know where to be at that right time, they can be left to get on with their job in full confidence knowing they will be where you want them to be.

A professional wedding photographer provides so much more than just a set of pretty pictures for a lot of money. And these are all the reasons why I recommend hiring a professional photographer and why they are worth every single penny.

roman baths wedding photography bath

An experienced wedding photographer knows how to capture and create breathtaking images in the dark or challenging lighting conditions.

bride and groom kissing in the cornfield, bath wedding photography
bride and groom first dance folly farm

1. Firstly a professional wedding photographer has excellent equipment and more importantly knows how to use it. They know that a bright sunny day requires a flash gun just a much – if not much more – than a dark room.

 

2. Unlike popular belief it is not the great camera that takes great photographs. It’s the photographer’s eye, knowledge of composition and understanding of light.

 

3. The professional always has backup equipment with them to insure they will take the day’s photographs whatever challenges they get confronted with.

 

4. The professional has insurance, both liability and indemnity. This not only protects the photographer’s rights, but the client’s too!

 

5. The professional is good at anticipating and being ready. Experience teaches them when to have the camera ready to capture those most memorable moments.

 

6. The professional edits, optimises and enhances every single photograph in the post processing stage.

 

7. The professional easily takes thousands of photographs during the time they are booked. Not because they are trigger happy but because they work continuously, look everywhere, try and capture as many details, emotions and interactions as possible. Just because the bride and groom meet with the registrar in private, eat dinner or go upstairs to refresh, they do not stop documenting the day. Those are the moments they document the reception decorations before the guests sit down, photograph the cake or take macro shots of the rings.

 

8. The professional aims to tell a story in photographs and provides you with a conclusive flow of images that not only include the preparations, the ceremony, the speeches and the first dance, but also the accessories that were carefully chosen by the bride, the emotional hug exchanged by the bride and the bride’s dad before he gives her away, tears shed by the guests during the speeches and children dancing between the guests feet. Those are the real wedding photographs that the bride and groom will remember forever.

 

9. A professional remains an outsider while blending in seamlessly with your guests. They chat with the guests but do not get wrapped up in conversations that take their eye away from what they are hired for.

 

10. And because they have seen many weddings and emotions before, they don’t easily get flustered and provide calm and constructive advice which can come in very handy when a stressed bride does not know how to use the hooks to attach the train of her wedding dress.

 

Maybe not all of these items apply to every single professional wedding photographer and maybe other photographers will have other priorities. But the above points are my priorities, they are pieces of information I will tell my clients if given the chance for an initial consultations and I believe they are all absolutely invaluable, show professionalism and reinforce trust and confidence in the photographer.

 

I hope this helps you in your planning. If you need further help or advice please leave a comment below, email me or fill in my simple & easy contact form below.

 

Copyright © Betty Bhandari Photography

More weddings you’ll love:

My best 2022 wedding photographs

My best 2022 wedding photographs

100 of my favourite wedding photographs for you. Twenty twenty two - a wedding photographer's summary   It's the time of the year again where I want to showcase the best wedding photos I have taken last year. After a strange and somewhat displaced 2021, I was...

Bailbrook House Wedding Photography with Lucy and Tom

Bailbrook House Wedding Photography with Lucy and Tom

This beautiful autumn wedding took place at Bailbrook house at the end of November (hence the beautiful Christmas decorations) and was a day full of excitement, but not just of the good kind.I started my work in the morning when seeing the bride Lucy and her...

My best 2021 wedding photographs

My best 2021 wedding photographs

My 100 best wedding photos from 2021   And I'm not going to lie - this was a strange post-pandemic year! How to sum up a busy year after a year as hard as 2020? I'm a little lost for words. Most of my 2020 bookings moved to 2021; some of them got pushed even further...

For more information & to check availability:

(or so simply say hi)

12 + 15 =

I’m located in Bath, Somerset.

email    bettybhandariphotography@gmail.com

phone   +44 (0)7984 029 639

I will get back to you within 48 hours maximum. In the unlikely event that you don’t hear back from me please check your email spam folder.

Wedding Tip: Sparkler Send-Off

Wedding Tip: Sparkler Send-Off

Hi guys!

A lot of couples who chose to get married during the darker half of the year have the idea to incorporate sparklers into their wedding day. A ‘sparkler shot’ or ‘sparkler send-off’ is a great alternative to a traditional confetti shot and can, if done correctly, look amazing! Now what does ‘doing correctly’ mean? I have been at a wedding earlier this year where the sparkler shot just did not work at all and here is what you, the bride and groom to be, need to keep in mind when preparing for your wedding.

My three tips:

  • Buy the longest sparkler you can find. The longer they are, the longer they will burn and therefore the better the chance that everyone’s sparklers will burn at the same time.
  • Test the sparklers. Do they light easily? If not they won’t work. You need to be able to light them easily with a common lighter.
  • Have one lighter between two or maximum three people to ensure everyone can light their sparklers at the same time.

 

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If you keep these three things in mind and are prepared, your photographer should have a field day photographing a sea of sparklers with two love birds in the middle!

 

Save the date card | Engagement Shoot Ideas

Save the date card | Engagement Shoot Ideas

An engagement or pre-wedding shoot also gives you the opportunity to take photographs that you can incorporate into your wedding invitation. A ‘save the date’ notification tells your friends and family which date to keep free, even if you are not at a point where you want to give away where the wedding is going to take place.

save-the-date-ideas

save-the-date-engagement

Simply tell me before the session if you would like to do a save the date photo and I’ll bring additional props that you can incorporate.

You will receive your engagement portraits on a USB therefore you are under no limitation of use and you can freely use the photographs in the design of your wedding invitations.

5 Super Easy Tips to get the most out of your Wedding Photography

5 Super Easy Tips to get the most out of your Wedding Photography

Everybody who has had a professional wedding photographer at their wedding will tell you how excited they were when they first received their photos. Naturally there is an expectation that every single image will be mind blowing. And most of them probably will. But did you know that you can play an essential part in getting so much more out of your wedding photography?

Here are my top 5 tips for brides and grooms to improve their wedding photography:

1) Keep the room you are getting ready in tidy. If your photographer covers the preparations there will be a lot of photos taken in this room. It is here that the bride puts on her dress for the first time. There will be family or friends around, anticipation and excitement is in the air. The whole bridal outfit comes together. This is a lot of information to capture for a photographer and you want to provide a decent background for these important photographs.

2) Speak with the priest, vicar or registrar whether there are any photography restrictions. For example is the photographer allowed to move through the room and is flash photography allowed.

3) I don’t recommend time planning that is too tight. I know you want to make your money go a long way but weddings are full of emotions that you cannot anticipate beforehand and it’s very difficult for a photographer to rush you through the day as it’s often the in-between moments that are loaded with surprises, personal interactions with friends and family or even surprises. Allow enough time for a good wedding reportage. It is the photographs that you will look at in future to remember the day.

4) If you like a confetti shot, it’s best to provide the confetti as most guests won’t think about bringing any. Have you considered dried rose petals? They are sustainable and look beautiful on photographs.

5) When it comes to the group shots, nominate of the groomsmen or bridesmaids to help round up the people needed. Consider providing a list with names for them. This will really help the taking the formal group shots as it is not the photographs that take long, it is getting the relevant people together!

I hope this helps you in your planning. If you need further help or advice please leave a comment below, email me or fill in my simple & easy contact form.

Copyright © Betty Bhandari