second shooting posing advice

[lexie]

next weekend i'm doing my first stint as a second shooter for a friend, she will be covering the bridal prep whilst i take the groom prep the morning of the wedding. i'm curious about the approach wedding pros take to the prep shoots they do, do you prefer to guide the subjects in set poses or let things take their natural course and keep things more candid and take the photojournalist approach?

this is the sort of blogs i keep an eye on for inspiration:

http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/index.php/emilymatt-2/

from what i can see most of the prep shots look like they are captured as they happen, but do you think is there a bit of gentle coaxing to get the shots the photographer wants, or is it just going with the flow?

 

[Joshua James]

I tend to let things flow with the groom prep stages and only really stage the 'prop shots'. I do sometimes repose the natural images if I've just missed something though. I find the groom prep much more uncomfy than bridal. Grooms don't really 'get it' and can't understand why your there a lot of the time.

With bridal prep I do a lot more posing and often do some rearrangin of the room etc to ge tthe shots I'm after. BUT I always prefer the natural shots, they capture the emotion so much better.

 

[lexie]

I tend to let things flow with the groom prep stages and only really stage the 'prop shots'. I do sometimes repose the natural images if I've just missed something though. I find the groom prep much more uncomfy than bridal. Grooms don't really 'get it' and can't understand why your there a lot of the time.

With bridal prep I do a lot more posing and often do some rearrangin of the room etc to ge tthe shots I'm after. BUT I always prefer the natural shots, they capture the emotion so much better.

thanks for the reply JJ, you made some good points to take on board. i hadn't thought about the groom prep being slightly uncomfortable, but i can see the reasoning for it.

the wedding is for the winner of a competition my friend runs every year offering free wedding coverage. i've been drafted in to help cover as much of the day as possible, i don;t know if the fact they aren't having to pick up the bill will make things more relaxed or even maybe a little tense - i know some people don't like taking things for free. maybe it was the wife's idea to enter the competition and the groom is a little embarrassed (male pride dented?)

 

[big soft moose]

Difficult to see what the groom prep's going to involve - he puts on his suit and heads for the bar ... BFD , not sure why he'd want that recorded for posterity

its not like hes going to have hair and make up and have to be helped into an impractical dress by for or five relatives :shrug:

the 'groom prep' shots for my wedding show my best man and I sinking a couple of cold ones