Candid Portraits: Why You Must Sniff Her Ear
“I love the candid portraits! But I’m not photogenic like that.”
I hear this over and over again.
Of course you do! And of course you aren’t!
The key to candid wedding portraits is a blend of posing direction and genuine connection. The connection – whether a laugh, a flirty smile or a big tight hug – is actually the only candid part!
We start with plenty of detailed instruction about where and how to stand, where to put your hands and so on. (Goodness, the gentleman are always worried about where to put their hands! Pro-tip… put ‘em on your partner!)
We could stop there and have you smile at the camera – and we often do (you can read more about Classis portraits here) but we can also add in a prompt that will create a genuine and unpredictable reaction and connection. That is the key to creating a candid portrait, not a photogenic gene or a practiced skill. It’s just showing up, following basic directions, and allowing yourself to connect with your fiancé.
This is why you’ll inevitably hear me tell one partner to sniff the other’s ear once I have you in position. Sometimes, we get a sweet snuggly shot. More often, the sniffer really goes for it and inhales so hard they snort and then we get a laughing snuggly shot. Either way, it’s good stuff. Because you’ll recognize those people when you get the finished photos.
The magic of candid photos is in the recognition. Not recognition of a specific moment or emotion, that’s what documentary images are for, but recognition of the person. The person you see day in and day out and know in deep way. The kind of recognition that makes you hear the person’s laugh, makes you know just what they’d say in the moment after the laugh.
If I give you a classic, posed portrait of Bob, you might say, “What a nice picture of Bob!”
If I give you a candid portrait of Bob throwing his head back and laughing, you’ll say, “Oh my God. That’s SO Bob!!”
You get it by now, right? You don’t need another explanation or analogy? Cus I will keeping going… But I’m going to assume you get it now and leave you with more pretty examples of how we do candid portraits.
If you haven’t already, check out our other posts about how we balance Documentary + Candid + Classic coverage of your wedding day…
See more here:
Our Equation for Authentic Weddings
Documentary Coverage: The Big Feelings
Coming Soon – Documentary Coverage: Interactions
Coming Soon – Candid Coverage: Party People
Coming Soon – Classic Coverage: Look Deeply Into My Camera
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Maggie Medema Photography provides wedding photography in St. Louis and most of Missouri, Southern Illinois and the Starved Rock and Illinois Valley areas of Northern Illinois. Services are provided exclusively by Maggie and Zac and availability is limited.