Photographing the bride and groom with their friends is one of my favorite parts of the wedding day. I know those candid moments with your bridesmaids and groomsmen will end up as some of their favorites and are often the ones they will frame and put on their shelves. Bridesmaids are a little easier to photograph because most groups of girls are used to taking photographs together all the time and feel comfortable getting close and posing together. I’ll often photograph bridesmaids both candid and laughing and a little more serious with a sexier editorial take. Groomsmen can be a little harder. They never know what to do with their hands (always in pockets) and seem to feel a little awkward lined up in front of the camera. I completely understand that, it is an awkward thing to line up and PLEASE never do soccer pose! This is not your 4th grade soccer team portrait, this is your portrait with all your friends on your wedding day! You want to look debonair and handsome, not goofy and uncomfortable. There are lots of tricks for photographing the groomsmen well like staggering the line and having them walk, Reservoir Dogs style, but my favorite groomsmen photo ever actually came from a completely un-staged inbetween moment, and reminds us all to always have our camera at the ready. I was shooting the bridesmaids against this gorgeous lake in the background in CT while the groomsmen waited their turn and all sat on this low stone wall. My second shooter was snapping candid closeups of them laughing together and I walked over to come get them, but instead of just asking them all to follow me over towards the lake, I waited a beat and captured a few wide shots of them all just hanging out so comfortable and natural and it was my favorite of all the groomsmen photos. The stone wall was in harsh direct mid-day sun and this shot digitally would not have turned out very well- a huge advantage to shooting film! The lesson I learned from this photo was to always keep my eyes open and remember that the best moments can be the ones between the planned posed portraits, and when it doubt, sit groomsmen down! Leave them for a few minutes to get comfortable with each other and let the magic happen naturally.
When I photograph a portrait in an iconic location like DUMBO, with the city skyline in the background it is always important to make sure that the subject doesn’t get lost in the Cityscape. This portrait from a very chilly anniversary session is one of my favorites from DUMBO because the entire composition leads the eye to the couple in the middle who are lovingly connected to each other within the frame. There are two major leading lines in the frame: the Brooklyn Bridge above them and the railing they are leaning on at their midsection. The two lines almost run parallel (except where the railing bends, which is where I placed them) and the two lines perfectly frame their faces. I talk a lot about composition and letting the eye wander and a frame with these dominant leading lines is wonderful because no matter where the eye enters the frame it is visually forced to return to the couple. Once the eye lands on the couple it can linger and doesn’t jump back to the cityscape because they are so connected and there is visual tension between them. The way her arm reaches up to his cheek and the way his arm actively pulls her in from the waist giving her a slight arch to her back makes this still portrait seem to come alive with movement and adds an authenticity to an otherwise posed portrait. His feet point in at her and her leg is bent, which both shows off a woman’s legs and creates a triangle shape, which as I’ve talked about before the eye loves to look at. All these detailed nuances may seem complicated and like too much to think about while at a wedding or portrait shoot, but composition and framing are the building blocks of the visual language. Learning these elements and practicing them will eventually make them second nature. Think about it being the same as when you truly learn another language and no longer have to translate each word back and forth in your mind. Let the visual language become intrinsic and you will naturally pose and look at all the edges of your frame for a dynamic and engaging composition before you click the shutter.