How To Create Movement in Your Wedding Photos

“When posing with movement,” says wedding photographer Roberto Valenzuela, “the whole point is to create candidness.” Here, he breaks down how to create the effortless style you envision in an image by using purposeful posing that looks anything but.

Photos © Roberto Valenzuela

Perfectly Posed Candid
What do you do when you have a bridge in the photo?  “Use it,” Valenzuela advises. “The railing leading up to the couple guides your eye. Plus, having the bride sitting on it and the groom standing against her creates contrast and, yes, movement.” Valenzuela directed the groom to wrap his hand around the bride’s back, grab her leg and push his body against her—“it not only counters his weight on hers, it creates an inevitable urge for the bride to laugh or giggle,” he says. One key point to note is that he didn’t have the couple kiss. “Then it would look too staged. They are sharing an intimate moment without having to kiss.” As for the group in the background, Valenzuela positioned them in a scattered pattern, with the smaller kids in front, and then gave them all topics to talk about. And what about that guy coming out of the groom’s shoulder? “Don’t think I didn’t notice him,” says Valenzuela. “That’s my whole point with all of this—use it all to create a feeling of candidness.”

Proper Subject Emphasis
In Picture Perfect Posing, Valenzuela introduces a three-point reference guide to ensure that your subject is the main attraction in the frame. His rules are:

1) The subject should be at least as bright as the brightest point in the frame.
2) The direction of light should influence part of the pose.
3) Use framing, leading lines, isolation, contrasts, repetition or size to make the subject the most prominent element.

In the image above, the bride is “on the brighter side of what I’m showing and the light, along with the arch, is being used to frame her,” he says. “With my hand/arm context system (resting or resting on; framing, holding; pointing or connecting), hands are given context within the pose so that they complement rather than distract from the subject. Having this bride hold up her veil gives her hands context and movement.” Even more importantly, he adds, her hands are not at the same level. “That would be far too distracting and not authentic.”

With two bestselling photography training books under his belt—Picture Perfect Practice and Picture Perfect Posing (see Rangefinder’s June 2014 issue for a review on the latter)—it’s safe to say Roberto Valenzuela knows that of which he speaks. His Picture Perfect Posing System incorporates 15 decision points into a shoot—including spine, weight distribution, 90-degree angles, hand/arm context system, and posing with movement, feeling and expression—to help photographers produce energy in their poses.

Related Links:

Roberto Valenzuela’s Physics of a Portrait

Book Excerpt: Picture Perfect Practice

Making a Typical Wedding Photo Shoot Atypical