To Pose or Not to Pose

One of the more common requests I get from brides is that they don't want their pictures to look posed.

I completely understand where this sentiment comes from as many formal wedding pictures look very stiff and unrelaxed - the "posed" look that these brides want to avoid.  But it does not have to be that way !  And, hopefully, with Patrick Grannan Photography it is not.

I describe my own style as a hybrid and a mix between formal and candid; between posed and not posed.  Recently I asked an impartial observer and the description I received was "candid."   That was the reaction even though a significant percent of the photos viewed were in fact posed photos.

The trick is that just because a photo is posed it does not need to "look posed".  There is certainly a place in wedding photography for the traditional formal posed shots.  In fact the posed group shots and other traditional shots (Bride with her mother for example) are often the most predictably purchased for reprints (especially by the mother of the bride).  I certainly include those traditional "posed" images as part of every wedding that I photograph.  But even then I try to get the people in the photos to relax so that the photos don't look too posed and stiff.

But my favorite photos are often the ones where they are only very loosely posed.  The photos where we set up a basic situation, give only slight direction and then capture the magic that happens semi-naturally.  Most of the time these photos do not "look posed" but they really are.  Flower girls are wonderful for setting up some of these "posed without looking posed" photos as the two examples with this post show.

Finally as the reception progresses I will tend to shoot more true "candids" - especially on the dance floor where people tend to be more relaxed.  These are often favorites - the father of the bride dance with the bride for example is always popular along with the old favorite cutting the cake.