Self Portraits Help with Composing Bride & Groom Photographs

I was sitting on the couch beside Eddie and I looked over my shoulder.

I thought about how this “pose” would look to someone who was photographing us:

Eddie’s profile would be cut off and framed on the left side of the photograph which would draw the eye to the other side of the frame where I am. Compositionally I imagined this would look cinematic.

I told Eddie to not move and I ran to get my camera.

Then I took that picture I imagined.

I am always working to compose couples more interestingly and in a way that lends to the candid wedding photography approach. I don’t want to resort to “poses” that can be easily interchanged. It can be very easy to put a couple of people in front of a wall and have them hold hands which can be superimposed from one photograph to another. The surroundings are not considered. Having that same pose for every shoot can lose it’s excitement and meaning.

But it can be difficult to find the time to experiment with ideas.

That’s why using yourself can be great practice.

I practice with movement and perspective as we talk and while he picks *lint off of my shirt. I’ll move the camera behind us, in front of us, beside us, look at it, don’t look at it.

I imagine what the photograph looks like through the viewfinder.

If I showed up to a shoot I might not have thought of these compositions. The practice of holding the camera myself helps with imagining these different perspectives.

*Picking lint off of my shirt

The idea of doing bride and groom portraits in a candid style seems contradictory since they know they are having their photo taken. However this exercise shows how it’s possible to execute.

If a couple is candid together then different compositions are naturally occurring. (For example, Eddie and I on the couch).

Try moving yourself around them to get that alternative perspective; something that can’t be interchanged from one shoot to another. Something that contains layers and feels 3 dimensional.

The focus is more about you in your element and them in theirs which nurtures candid.

Being confident in your approach takes practice… so use yourself!

Photographs taken with: 
- Contax TVS iii (point and shoot camera) 
- Kodak Gold 400 film

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