Great Posture Makes All the Difference in Wedding Photos.

Those of you who know me know how passionate I am about a bride's posture.  Actually, I'm passionate about everyone's posture as it does so much for their confidence, their health and their ability to think more clearly.  I'm particularly interested in brides' posture as most wedding dresses are strapless or expose a lot of the shoulder area and there is not much worse than seeing a bride slouch on her most important day and then have that captured in photos.  Many things can be photo-shopped out of photos but not bad posture!  So, I have spoken to several photographers so see what their thoughts are on the subject and Steve Shipman of Steve Shipman Photography gave me his opinion and here it is...

"We all slouch! We slouch in front of the TV, we slouch when we eat, at our desks and in the car. We slouch when we stand. We all do it. But when our posture comes under scrutiny in a photograph, we become very critical, and we point, and say - look at him slouching!

So, as a photographer, it is very important that I address this for you. You want to look good in a photo, tall, elegant even.

Posture matters whether the photo is of a group at a wedding or of a couple in a set-up shot. I try and avoid the word 'pose', as everyone thinks that's about doing something awkward and uncomfortable. But I do set up a lot of my shots, wherever I see good light, or a space that will suit my clients.

Let's imagine the moment everyone dreads at a wedding - the group shots!  The first thing I ask, regardless of how many people are in the shot, is for everyone to stand in a line and face the bride and groom, feet, hips, shoulders, the lot.

The group is now of a line of people side-on to me, thinking, it's true, my worst nightmare is happening.

Read on. Standing side-on prevents people on the ends of the group coming forward and creating an arc - we definitely want everyone the same distance from the camera and therefore in as much of a straight line as possible. It also stops people randomly overlapping each other.

Next, I ask everyone on the bride's side to point the nearest foot to me at me. Folks on the groom's side do the same. Now we have lots of toes all pointing at me. The action of turning a foot out will also naturally turn peoples' shoulders to me, just a little. A three-quarter pose  is very flattering as it de-emphasises tummies, and the turn will show off good shoulders.

So now we have everyone thinking they're in a ballet class, and actually it's becoming fun. Next I consider the hands. Depending on the level of formality, most people are happy with hands clasped in front. Men usually look good doing this. Women look good with elbows lightly bent, and the nearest hand to me is sometimes placed on the upper thigh or lower hip area. Hands and arms on the far side remain hidden.

If the group is less formal, I will ask everyone to put the hand visible to me on the arm or the waist on the person in front of them. This instantly connects everyone, and usually makes for more smiles. This is fun!

The last and most crucial direction from me is to say 'Stand Tall'. I mirror the stance, and then make some corny joke about an extra inch making all the difference. It is amazing to see the posture of everyone instantly straighten up, toes out, shoulders gently turned, connected to someone next to them. How elegant. Take the picture!

Writing this makes it sound like a long process, but when I'm in wedding mode we shoot each group in two minutes. People watch what I do for each group, and when it's their turn they know exactly what I'm getting at, and they can see how good everyone looks. Posture is all!"

http://www.steveshipmanphotography.com/weddings/