Your Best Posing Instructions w/ Examples

nice thread! keep it coming i'm really getting good tips here

Thanks for bumping I missed this one!

I'm going to make a little book with sample poses in it and show the B&G "Look.. monkey see, monkey do"

Scott.....ok starts with P ends with enis............u see what i am saying here?? LOL i must not be the only blonde in here hahaha or it's jsut the way i explained it....we will blame it on me for now! HAHA

OK here's another...
Me: "Boys....hold the bridesmaid's flowers and act 'girly'"
Grooms men: "How do we do that?"
Me: (So i show them the pose.....girly like and all....this was the result....)

Looks more like over the top seductive boys.......

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nice one pixi ... lol

Tag .. hoping to get some great advice here on what has to be the hardest part of shooting people. Getting that natural looking shot under posed circumstances has to be difficult.

Making people to laugh and smile is what i believe makes each photographer unique. Pressing the button and setting up the camera is one aspect of photography but the hardest concept is making people feel relaxed and making a couple laugh in front of a lense... Would love to see other photographers concepts of making couples laugh and smile and showing there emotions. Keep them coming in!!!:p

I like that Pixi, I will def use that one on the next wedding I shoot.

More please!

Yes definitely more please. My cousin's friend saw some snaps I did at my other cousins wedding and now want sme to do her wedding. Quite scared and as you can see from my limited equipment I have reason to be. But it is at a registry office and have told them I am a total novice to this. WIll just have to see what happens as we get closer to the time!

Any suggestions for a good lens, as I might hire one for the occasion?

Philco wrote in post #2664611
Has anybody done the piggy back ride thing?

Yes, it gets them laughing. After the groom had the bride on his back, we suggested that the bride put the groom on her back (have to be careful w/this one), it was very funny. At an engagement shoot, the groom-to-be put her on his back and was running around w/her, it was hilarious. You have to take lots of shots, though, because in many of the frames they'll be making weird faces. It's a good way to get the loosend up.

I find this aspect perhaps the hardest part because I'm reserved. I have to come out of my comfort zone.
What I've done:
1. In preparation, during the rehearsal day, I walk around with the couple and suggest venues for possible photos, and discuss poses they might like to think about. I suggest some, and encourage them to do their own - view magazines etc. if they like. Of course, this works only with the couple, not the whole wedding party.

2. For humor shots, I ask each person to exhibit different emotions extremely. Sad, angry, bugged-out, etc.

Getting the groom or the bride to whisper in the other one's ear always gets a good result for me.

If the groom can, ask him to pick her up and start spinning...If it dosent look so good... ask them to hold hands and spin!

If you do a shot with the groom and groomsmen holding the bride in their arms, try the reverse. To see three or four girls with a groom laying across their arms is hilarious for the whole party. But you may have to warn them not to grope the groom. Some girls are worse than blokes in that department. Also lots of fun shots depend on the respective sizes of the participants.

Another one I like is to get the blokes to do a jump. In Australia we've had a Toyota ad with the tag line "Oh what a feeling, Toyota" with a big jump at the end of it. Not sure how widely its been shown round the world.

Digital is better than film in that you can show the couple something nice on the screen and then tell them 'if you don't like it I can delete it'.

Silverwool wrote in post #2746413
If you do a shot with the groom and groomsmen holding the bride in their arms, try the reverse. To see three or four girls with a groom laying across their arms is hilarious for the whole party. But you may have to warn them not to grope the groom. Some girls are worse than blokes in that department. Also lots of fun shots depend on the respective sizes of the participants.

Another one I like is to get the blokes to do a jump. In Australia we've had a Toyota ad with the tag line "Oh what a feeling, Toyota" with a big jump at the end of it. Not sure how widely its been shown round the world.

Digital is better than film in that you can show the couple something nice on the screen and then tell them 'if you don't like it I can delete it'.

Yes, I'm familiar with the toyota ad, and jumps are fairly common in portfolios I've seen, and they are always fun.

I think a variation of that may be to have some jump and others seated or in other interesting poses and varying distances from the camera to give depth.