Five Secrets to Picture-Perfect Lifestyle Photography
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Loading... - Kirsty Duke
- 14 Dec 2021
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When it comes to wedding and lifestyle photography, there’s no replacement for experience. But as you’re gaining that experience, some useful photography tips and best practices can shorten your learning curve. These five secrets will help you capture many great moments and memories for you and your subjects.
#1: Start with a script
A lifestyle or wedding photography shoot is a lot like scripting a movie. Planning your vision involves having a list of shots planned out ahead of time. Be prepared with a shot list and/or poses that you’re pretty confident will work.
When it comes to high-pressure shoots like weddings, getting the posed shots completed first will help you deliver a more complete gallery from the shoot, with all of the most important moments captured. With the posed shots out of the way, you’ll have more time to get creative with timely portraits and candid opportunities.
Planning ahead also helps ensure you bring the right lights with you. You’ll know ahead of time what lighting equipment you should bring as well, whether it’s taking the Profoto camera flash or the off-camera Amaran LED light, for example.
Wedding photography tip: Because wedding dresses can be finicky to deal with, leave the bride standing in place when you can, just moving her head and shoulders, or turn her upper body, while the groom and wedding party move around her.
#2: Start in the Comfort Zone
An important thing to remember is that not everyone is comfortable with being in front of the camera. This applies to about 99% of us who feel really uncomfortable as soon as the camera is pointed at us. For those who are not comfortable, especially for romantic or intimate photoshoots, it’s your job as the photographer to build an environment that makes your subject(s) feel comfortable.
Start your sessions with the subjects’ backs to the camera, and/or with the camera farther away. They’ll feel less self-conscious and will get comfortable with your style before you get closer shots. It can help your subjects get used to being in front of the camera.
Planning a wedding is often a high-stress time for couples. An engagement photo shoot should be an opportunity for them to fall back in love again. You can facilitate this by giving them space to breathe and be together without even realizing that you’re there.
Lifestyle photography tip: Always pay attention to the shoulders. If a person is tense their shoulders may hunch up, making them look awkward and rigid in the photos. When their shoulder is fully dropped, that’s how you know someone is now comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera.
#3: Don’t be afraid to zoom
Zoom lenses can make shoots more comfortable for your subjects. And they can save you time since you can capture a close-up, three-quarter shot and even a wider shot, all without changing lenses.
Wedding photography tip: Don’t forget the hands! In three-quarter or pullback shots, people might seem more relaxed with their hands in their pockets. But it can create unsightly bulges; encourage just the four fingers in the pockets, or hooking a thumb, to keep straighter lines. And which out for fists, that can indicate anger or frustration, or stiff flat fingers or “penguin hands”, which can indicate tension. Read More…
